




rr in : 







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MEMORIAL. 

Alfred Theodore Lilly, 



Biographical Sketch. 
Funeral Service. 
Obituary Notices. 

Dedication of the Lilly 
Library Building. 



He has striven hard and long 
In the world's unequal fight, 
Always to resist the wrong. 
Always to maintain the right. 

And o'er his couch of rest, 
His epitaph shall be : — 
■*' Here sleeps the truly blest, 
Whose life from vice was free." 



FLORENCE, M.A.SS., 

BRYANT .V BROTHER, PRINTERS. 

iSqO. 



x4- 



•v^ 



Preface. 



OJ 



The Trustees of the Florence Kindergarten, and of the 
Lilly Library Association, have prepared this Memorial volume 
for general distribution and future use. 

The life of one who did so much for others, and the general 
recognition of its value, will be interesting and instructive 
to all. 

Florence, June 7, 1890. 



ARTHUR G. HILL, 
EMILY K. LEARNED, 
MARY S. MANN, 
HENRY B. HAVEN, 
CHIARA A. PLIMPTON, 
ELIZABETH POWELL BOND, 
DANIEL W. BOND, 



Trustees 
of the 
Florence 
Kindergarten. 



WILLIAM H. RILEY, 
JOHN B. O'DONNELL, 
MARTHA B. GARY, 
ELLA G. ELDER, 
MARY W. BOND, 
GHIARA A. PLIMPTON, 
ARTHUR G. HILL, 
HENRY B. HAVEN, 
DANIEL W. BOND, 



Trustees 

of the 

Lilly Library 

Association. 



Biograph ical Sketch. 



Biographical Sketch. 



Alfred Theodore Lilly was horn in Mansfield, C cr.ntcticut 
April 15th, 1813. 

His mother's maiden name was Jerusha Swift. She was 
born in Mansfield. A friend writes of her : — " vShe was a 
very intelligent and most e.xcellent woman ; kind and be- 
nevolent, ever ready to assist any one in distress to the 
extent of her ability ; she always had a kind word for the 
children, and was beloved by every one who knew her." 
She died in Mansfield, January ist, 1859, aged 76. 

His father, Alfred Lilly, was born in Ashford, Connect- 
icut. He moved to Mansfield, an adjoining towil, quite 
early in life, where he learned the trade of blacksmith ; 
after working at this trade for several years he engaged in 
the manufacture of screw augers and auger bits. 

The town of Mansfield is noted for its early efforts in 
the silk industry. In 1766, the State of Connecticut sent 
half an ounce of mulberry seed to every parish in the 
state, and for a time offered a bounty on mulberry trees 
and raw silk. Two hundred and sixty-five pounds of silk 
were raised in Mansfield in 1793; in 1830, thirty-two hun- 
dred pounds ; and at its height it gave the people of the 
tow'n an income of $50,000 per year. At this period the 
silk was all spun by hand. In 1827 or 1828 Edmund 
Golding of Macclesfield, England, came to this country 
when he was seventeen years old, and expected to find 
read}' employment in the silk mills at his trade of "throw- 
ster." He sought employment in Mansfu-ld in vain, till 
his money was gone, w'hen he accepted an offer to work 
for a merchant in town for his board. Alfred Lilly, who 



8 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

was engaged in the'^manufacture of screw augers and auger 
bits, took an interest in the boy, and invited him to spend 
his evenings at his house, where he described to Mr. Lilly 
his work as a "throwster," the mode of spinning silk by 
machinery in England, and made sketches of the winding, 
doubling and spinning frames. Mr. Lilly was familiar with 
the efforts to manufacture silk by machinery in Mansfield, 
and with their failure ; but he brought the information of 
Golding to some of his townsmen ; a company was formed 
of which he was a member ; machinery was built, some of 
it in Mr. Lilly's shop, and put in motion under Golding's 
charge. This company w^as incorporated in 1828 as the 
Mansfield Silk Co.. and carried on the business for sixteen 
years. It originated the silk industry in the United States 
which has since grown to such large proportions, but its result 
was disastrous financially to the incorporators. Mr. Lilly was 
the first of this company to yield to adverse fortune, failing in 
1835. He always attributed his misfortune to the silk manu- 
facture. His son always felt that a small sum of money would 
have enabled his father to continue his auger and bit business. 
The goods were well known in the market and were sought for 
by dealers. It used to be said by the dealers that they wanted 
no other guaranty of the quality of the goods than the name 
of the maker stamped upon them. The depression in business 
of 1837 was beginning to be felt ; goods had been sold on 
long credit, and money could not be collected ; banks would not 
make loans ; time, money and efforts had been given to the 
silk manufacture, which, applied to the auger business, might 
have averted the failure. He was past the meridian of life at 
the time of his failure, and his wounded feelings never recov- 
ered from the shock. Upon the place which was purchased 
by the son after his father's failure, was a tract of poor land 
of but little value ; it had a peat swamp upon it, and the father 
spent his time and found much enjoyment in improving this 
land ; he made great efforts to raise as large crops as others ; 
he visited the corn-fields of his neighbors and counted the ears 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 9 

of corn upon a rod of land and compared the number with his 
own crop ; he finally succeeded in producing larger cr(jps of 
corn and grass than any one near him. and his fields attracted 
the attention of the entire neighborhood. His son encouraged 
this work, and later in life recalled it in connection with his 
own work. He died March 5th, 1857. 

Alfred Theodore attended the summer and winter terms of 
the district school until he was twelve years old. and the winter 
terms until he was seventeen. One who knew him at school 
writes : — "He was a very bright and apt scholar, of quick and 
discerning mind, far ahead of his school fellows, and always 
for the right. He set an excellent example for his school fel- 
lows ; 'commit no wrong,' was his motto, and he lived up to it." 
One who knew him both as boy and man, writes : — " As a boy 
he was good, as a man he was noble." He was often sent by his 
father, when a small boy, on important business ; as early as 
thirteen he was sent to Hartford, thirty miles, with a load of au- 
gers to deliver to merchants, and to bring home stock and gro- 
ceries, and perform such other business as might be entrusted 
to him. He commenced early to keep his father's account 
books, and did his work neatly and correctly. When he ceased 
to attend school, he worked for his father at auger and bit 
making until he was twenty-one. After he was twenty-one he 
worked for his father as a journeyman about a year — until the 
failure. The bank nearest to Mansfield was at Tolland. His 
father came home from the bank very much depressed, and told 
his son that he had been unable to obtain any money and should 
be obliged to make an assignment of his property for the benefit 
of his creditors ; that the burden of supjiorting the family after 
that would fall upon him, and on this account he would make 
him a preferred creditor to the amount of his claim. The son 
thought of the matter over night, and in the morning told his 
father that he had concluded to share equally with the other 
creditors, and his father complimented him on his decision. 

At the age of twenty-two he assumed the burden thus 
placed upon him. He decided to go on with the auger and bit 



lo ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

business, borrowed a small sum of money and for fifteen years 
he applied himself closely to his work. No defective work was 
allowed to leave the shop ; all goods were of superior work- 
manship, and gave excellent satisfaction ; he had orders from all 
parts of the country. He was punctual in all his affairs no 
matter how trivial ; and he gained at once a reputation for in- 
tegrity by all who knew him. His health failed, however, and 
in 1850 he was obliged to give up the business. He took a posi- 
tion as Superintendent of the Rixford & Butler Silk Manufac- 
turing Co., at Mansfield Center, where he remained one year 
when the company failed. Mr. Lilly then accepted for a short 
time a position as traveling salesman for George R. Hanks, a 
silk manufacturer of Mansfield. After this he went to Provi- 
dence, R. I., and engaged in the business of retail grocer, where 
he remained until the Spring of 1853, when he came to Florence 
and took a position as superintendent of the silk mill of the 
Nonotuck Silk Co.,- — Samuel L. Hill and Samuel L. Hinckley, 
proprietors. He remained with this company until his health 
failed, February ist, 1887. 

When Mr. Lilly came to Florence, Mr. Hill was the treas- 
urer and general manager of the company. He applied himself 
faithfully to the business, and after a few years Mr. Hill asked 
him to assist as treasurer and general manager ; he purchased a 
small interest in the business and was allowed to pay for it as 
he was able. In 1865, Mr. Hill appointed him acting treasurer, 
and he was elected treasurer of the company in 1872. Prior to 
i860, Ira and Lucius Dimock, two brothers from Willington, Ct., 
became interested in the business, additional mills were pur- 
chased, and the manufacture of silk commenced at Leeds. 
Since then from time to time other mills have been built and 
purchased at Florence, Leeds and Haydenville, until the Nono- 
tuck Silk Company is now one of the largest and best known 
manufacturers of silk in the United States. The same spirit 
which governed Mr. Lilly in the manufacture and sale of 
augers and bits, governed this company in the manufacture 
and sale of silk, until now their silk has become noted for its 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. n 

excellent quality, and the company for its honest dealine; with 
its patrons. 

If Mr. Lilly's father lost his property as a pioneer in tiie 
silk manufacture of this country, the son later in life acquired a 
competence in the same industry, and it is reasonable to assume 
that the son would not have been connected with the silk busi- 
ness at Florence, excejit for the early efforts of his father and 
the people of Mansfield. 

Mr. Lilly did not acquire wealth as soon as he came to 
Florence. During the early part of the time it was difficult for 
him to meet his obligations ; his own family, his father, mother 
and sisters received his assistance. His aid to them did not 
consist in visits and verbal expressions of regard and affection ; 
to the extent of his ability he ])rovided for them a comfortable 
home. A friend who knew him at this time writes: — "Mr. Lilly 
supported his father and mother for many years, devoting his 
early life and means to their comfort, and caring for them in 
every way ; he was one of the kindest of sons to his parents 
that it is possible to conceive of, and but few instances can be 
found where a man showed so much love and devotion to pa- 
rents as Mr. Lilly showed for his." Mr. Lilly wrote to a friend 
in 1888 with reference to this period of his life : — "Fifty-three 
years ago father failed in business and the house was sold over 
his head. I was just twenty-two years old, and from the time 
he failed, so long as he and mother lived, it took every cent of 
my earnings to keep our whole family comfortable. I suppose 
as a good and dutiful son I was serving God, for a bountiful 
reward has been bestowed upon me since my parents passed 
away. I never have done a good or kind deed to my parents, 
sisters or brother, or to any human being, but that a living 
pleasure has been afforded me by the act." 

A friend and life-long acquaintance writes: — "He was 
always kind and full of sympathy for any one in trouble." An- 
other writes : — " He was ever ready to advise and assist all who 
applied to him, and he was always a safe and prudent coun- 
sellor." 



12 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

To a distant relative advanced in years, he wrote : — " I do 
not want you to be troubled for money. It is a great pleasure 
to me that I am in a condition which enables me to help you out 
of pecuniary troubles; with all my 'skepticism' I enjoy helping 
those I love. Be free to name the amount you need and I will 
forward it to you promptly." 

He did a great deal more than is publicly known to aid 
others in various ways. To some he gave or loaned money to 
aid them in obtaining an education, to others to enable them to 
start in business, and to others to assist them in continuing 
their business. He gave to various enterprises for education 
and charity. Since his death it has been discovered that he dis- 
tributed an amount of his income for such purposes far in excess 
of the amounts given by him in ways which are publicly known. 

At his funeral, when Mr. Hinckley read, "I have given bread 
to the hungry," a poor woman in the audience said to herself in 
a low voice, "and that's the truth," and as he continued reading, 
"water to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, and shelter to the 
stranger," she again responded in the same low tone, "and that's 
the truth too." He was not indifferent to the good opinion of 
his fellow men, and those who knew him intimately, can under- 
stand how the recognition of his useful life by this poor woman 
would have given him greater satisfaction than the praises of 
people of any other class. 

This desire to assist others led him to become a stockholder 
and director in the Florence Furniture Company in 1873. The 
company during its first years of business was not successful, 
and it was due to Mr. Lilly and a few others that it became 
prosperous, and is now an important addition to the business of 
the village. Mr. Lilly was its president from the time of its or- 
ganization to his death. 

He was one of the original incorporators in 1S73 of the 
Savings Bank in Florence. It was organized as the " Working- 
men's Savings Bank," but the name was changed to the Florence 
Savings Bank. The interest he had in its establishment and 
prosperity continued to the end of his life, and he freely gave 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 13 

his time to its manatjement. It was established tt) encourage 
economy and savings among working people, and he lived to 
see its deposits amount to nearly $300,000 ; and during the en- 
tire period no misfortune came to the business of the bank. 

He aided several other industries in Florence and elsewhere 
in various wavs not pul)liclv known, and bv such aid contributed 
largely to the prosperity of the people interested. 

He always took an active interest in the public business of 
the town, was a regular attendant at town meetings, performed 
his part of the work upon town committees, and aided by his 
suggestions his fellow townsmen in all public work. 

He voted at all elections for state or national officers, but 
always declined public office on account of the demands upon 
his time. He was a careful observer of public men and political 
action, and had decided views upt)n political measures. 

At the age when Mr. Lilly ceased attending the public 
school, Benjamin Lundy had been endeavoring to interest 
people at the North in the great evil of African slavery as it ex- 
isted in the United States. \Vm. Lloyd Garrison had com- 
menced the publication of the Liberator. Two years later. 
Prudence Crandall had started in Canterbury, Conn., less than 
twenty miles from Mansfield, her school for colored girls, and 
the State of Connecticut had enacted a law making it a penal 
offense to establish a school for colored children not residents of 
the state. Mr. Lilly took an active part in politics ; his first 
vote at a presidential election was in 1836 for Andrew Jackson, 
but he ceased to act longer with his party because he became in- 
terested in the anti-slavery reform. A bright, active young man 
could not avoid coming to some conclusion upon slavery and the 
right to talk about it. Rewards had been offered for the arrest 
and conviction of Mr. Garrison, and other anti-slavery agitators; 
the governors of several of the Northern states had called the 
attention of the legislatures of their respective states to this 
discussion, which was a source of "unpleasantness " to the slave- 
holders of the South ; public meetings had been broken up by 
mobs in Willimantic, only a few miles from Mansfield, and the 



14 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

lives of anti-slavery men were tlireatened and in danger. It was 
quite a change from a "Jacksonian Democrat" to the upholding 
of anti-slavery agitation. President Jackson in his message of 
1835 had called attention to this agitation as violating the sacred 
compromises of the Constitution, but a young man who cared 
more for principle than for party was forced to the position 
which Mr. Lilly took ; the right of free speech and free thought 
which he desired for himself, he must uphold for others. From 
this time he was found acting with the political party op- 
posed to slavery, and always for the right of free speech. 

He was a firm believer in the utility of a protective tariff. 
From 1835 he had been an observer of the growth of manufac- 
turing in this country. He was especially familiar with the 
growth of the manufacture of silk in this country. In 1875, '^^ 
prepared a carefully written paper on the silk industry in the 
United States from 1766 to 1874, which was printed in the Bul- 
letin of the National Association of Wool Manufacturers, and 
afterwards in a separate pamphlet. It was considered a valu- 
able contribution to the early history of this important industry, 
and was used in preparing a History of the Silk Industry of 
America for the Centennial Exposition of 1876. So firmly was 
he devoted to the American theory of " home industry " that he 
did not always listen patiently to the advocates of free trade, and 
he was equally disturbed by the newspaper discussions in favor 
of free trade previous to political elections. 

During the rebellion of the South he was an uncompromis- 
ing supporter of the government, and always felt that there was 
a large debt due the Union army. In many ways he recognized 
this obligation ; he was a large contributor to the treasury of 
the Wm. L. Baker Post, G. A. R. ; and in 1886 he presented it 
with a donation of $1000. He was an honorary member of the 
Post, and in various ways sought to aid it, while on the part of 
the other members of the Post, they never failed to show their 
appreciation of him and his good will for them. 

When Mr. Lilly lived in Connecticut all able-bodied men 
were required to do military duty from the age of eighteen to 



BlUGRAl'lUCAL SKLTCH. 15 

forty-five. He complied with the requirements of the law, and 
was early appointed on the Colonel's staff as quartermaster 
sergeant, and subsequently became drum-major. He was an ex- 
cellent drummer, and nothing seemed to excite him more than 
to play upon a drum. Next to drumming himself, he enjoyed 
hearing others drum. He encouraged the formation ot a drum 
corps in Florence bv a number of boys, and ^upiibed lliein with 
drums and uniforms, ll was called "The Lilly Dium Corjis." 
He took great pride in lliis organi/alion, an 1 they in turn were 
always ready to play for his enjoyment. He enjoyed music 
from every variety of instrument. lw>r a time a member of his 
household had her piano in his sitting-room ; it was stipulated 
that she should play for him whenever he requested. He be- 
came so much attached to the playing that when she went away 
and this piano w-as removed, he missed it so much that he pur- 
chased one for his home, and said that he found among his visi- 
tors a sufficient number to play for him to more than pay for the 
investment. 

The singing of a school of children was to him a source of 
great enjoyment. He enjoyed being with children at all times 
and witnessing their amusements, while their ha]-)py voices en- 
gaged in singing school songs created in him intense delight. 

He was much interested in the singing at Cosmian Hall, and 
the members of the choir were always remembered by him at 
Christmas ; the last remembrance of this kind was a gift of an 
expensive, two-volume edition of "Robert Elsmere." He en- 
joyed reading this book very much, and contemplated having a 
sketch prepared tracing resemblances between the members of 
the Free Congregational Society and the characters in Mrs. 
Ward's book. His strength failed so fast, however, that this plan 
was never executed. His interest in the singing led him to de- 
sire something for the choir to use other than the Hymns in com- 
mon use. A collection of Hymns prepared by Elizabeth Powell 
Bond and Rev. F. A. Hinckley was used at Cosmian Hall. In 
1888, Mr. Lilly had prepared by L. K. Washburn at great cost, a 
book on the same plan as the Hymn Book used in churches for 



i6 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

congregational singing. It was printed by Oliver Ditson & Co., 
and Mr. Lilly hoped that it would be found acceptable to all free 
religious societies and adopted by them. Some of the work on 
this book was done by Mr. Lilly only a year before his death. It 
was Mr. Lilly's intention to have a book of the highest moral 
sentiment united with the choicest music, free from all sectarian- 
ism. It is entitled " Cosmian Hymn Book." 

Mr. Lilly inherited from his father a love of agriculture. 
In 1867, he purchased a tract of land in a low state of cultiva- 
tion and commenced improving it. He thoroughly drained and 
leveled it, and by deep plowing and a generous use of fertilizers 
for a series of years, he obtained a tract of twelve acres which 
he seeded to grass, and from it he cut six tons of hay to the 
acre. He found much enjoyment in this work, and desired to 
awaken an interest among the farmers to improve their grass 
crop. He att-ended the farmers' meetings and explained his 
work and its results, and advocated their trying to raise more 
grass per acre. To encourage them in such an effort he offered 
for several years a premium of one hundred dollars for the best 
crop of grass in the County upon two acres, with a proviso that 
he might compete for the premium. In one instance the pre- 
mium was awarded to another competitor, although the com- 
mittee told Mr. Lilly that the difference between the crops was 
hardly noticeable, and the award was made because they 
thouglu it would encourage the other man. Later Mr. Lilly pur- 
chased other land and cultivated it quite extensively. He be- 
lieved that if farming were conducted with as much system, en- 
ergy and intelligence as is given to manufacturing, it would be 
as profitable. 

In all his business transactions he was thorough. He inves- 
tigated every subject before he acted until he fully compre- 
hended it. If necessary to consult others, his maxim was to 
consult the best, and no matter how much time it required, he 
must be made to fully understand all that was required before 
he would act. He was quick to see difficulties and remedies. 
He could consider both sides of a transaction, and his judgment 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 17 

was excellent upon the course to be pursued. He was punctual 
and always reliable. He was a just man not only in all his bus- 
iness transactions, but in all his conduct with men. If b}' an}'- 
hasty word or act he felt tliat lie had done a man an injustice, he 
made haste to repair the wrong. 

At one time Mr. Lilh' was much annoyed by reckless young 
men who were addicted to the use of intoxicating liquors. They 
had often broken into his barn and slcj)t on the hay. He em- 
ployed counsel to prosecute them. Two of them were arrested 
on a charge of vagrancy. When they were brought from jail, 
they stated to the Court that they had no counsel because they 
had no money with which to employ one. Mr. Lilly at once in- 
structed his lawyer to secure a continuance of the case, saying 
that he wanted the boys to have a full and fair trial. He then 
asked the boys to name the lawyer they wanted ; they did so, 
and he retained him to defend them. The trial took place, the 
crime charged was not proved, the boys were discharged, and 
Mr. Lilly paid the bills. 

From boyhood Mr. Lilly was strictly tenijierate ; he used 
neither tobacco nor intoxicating liquor in any form. His exam- 
ple and precept were constantly against their use, on the ground 
of economy, health and prosperity. Sometimes in his labors 
with young men he was very decided and emphatic in his expres- 
sions upon this subject. Years ago he was advising a young man 
to leave off the use of tobacco. The young man replied that he 
had formed the habit and could not leave off its use. Mr. Lilly 
said to him: "Then if I were in your situation, I would go out 
and hang myself ; if I had come to the condition that I could 
not control my own conduct I would put an end to my life." 
At another time, a young man in poor health, consulted Mr. 
Lilly about starting a "saloon " for the sale of confectionery, to- 
bacco and beer, for the purpose of supporting himself and his 
family. Mr. Lilly heard him through patiently, and then said to 
him, that if he felt sure there was no other way for him to ob- 
tain a living except by the sale of tobacco and liquor, he had 
better consider seriously whether it was not time for him to die. 



i8 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

Those who knew him intimately, will recall how he appre- 
ciated and remembered favors and acts of kindness. Through- 
out his life he had not always been able to control circumstances, 
and toward all who in any way aided him, he cherished a kindly 
remembrance. During the last years of his life he was heard to 
express his gratitude to the men who aided him, after his father's 
failure, to start in business. It was not alone the important fa- 
vors which he remembered ; little acts of kindness from all 
classes of people were never forgotten. 

The interest which Mr. Lilly manifested in the various methods 
of general education was worthy of the subject and exhibited 
the nobility of his nature. Wendell Phillips once said, "Edu- 
cation is the only interest worthy the deep controlling anxiety of 
the thoughtful man." It may also be said that the person who 
endeavors to benefit mankind by education exhibits a nobility of 
character of the highest order. He was proud of the record 
of his native state as to what it had done for public schools, 
and of the resulting fact that there were so few people in the 
state who could not read and write. 

In 1857-8-9 there was a debating club formed in Florence, 
and it comprised a number of young and middle-aged men who 
had unusual capacity for debate. A paper was prepared and 
read at the evening meetings. Mr. Lilly encouraged the young 
people to take part in the meetings, and was himself a constant 
attendant and contributor for the paper. His articles for the pa- 
per were of a humorous character, written in an easy style 
and were much enjoyed. In debate he was an original thinker 
and logical reasoner. By general consent religious matters were 
not discussed, and it was an unwritten law that nothing should 
be said in debate to wound the feelings of people upon religious 
matters. Mr Lilly was as thoroughly honest in debate as he was 
in his life, and he would use no argument which was not founded 
upon reason and morality. This element in his character as a 
debater led to his being styled, by one of the members, the 
" Cato of the Florence Lyceum." 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 19 

Soon after he came to Florence, under the school district 
system, he was chosen prudential committee of the district. He 
was a strong supporter of the schools and school teachers, and 
was always ready to assist them. He would labor with a pupil 
who did not seem to appreciate school advantages, and was glad 
to converse with those who were interested in their studies. For 
several years there was a feeling in Florence that the school 
terms ought to be as long in Florence as those of the same 
grade in any other part of the town. Efforts were made liy 
Florence people to accomplish this with the money appropriated 
by the town for school purposes, but for a time the money had 
to be provided t)y private subscriptions. For several years the 
people of Florence asked the town for larger school appropria- 
tions to give them longer terms of school, and Mr. Lilly was one 
of the parties relied on to bring the question before the town 
meeting and to advocate it. At one of the town meetings the 
argument of "hard times" was urged persistently, and with the 
usual result. When the appropriations for lighting the streets 
came up for action, Mr. Lilly urged upon the meeting the con- 
sideration that if the "hard times" were such that money could 
not be afforded for schools, it was time the town economized in 
other ways, and he opposed the appropriation for street lights 
with such force that none was made. When the school district 
system was abolished, the care of the schools was taken from 
the people in the locality, but Mr. Lilly always maintained his 
interest in the schools, and in various ways aided in sustaining 
them. 

In 1859, an effort was made to establish an evening school 
for those who worked in the mills. At this time the town did 
nothing for evening schools. Mr. Hill and Mr. Lilly, acting for 
the Nonotuck Silk Company , were prominent among those who 
aided in the enterprise and rejoiced at its success. They both 
lived to see the evening school become one of the public schools 
of the town, which was largely due to their efforts. 

At the annual town meeting in 1869, the town appropriated 
$25,000 to erect a Memorial Hall and Public Library building 



2.0 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

provided an equal sum should be contributed from other sources, 
and a committee of five, of which Mr. Lilly was one, was ap- 
pointed to purchase a lot and erect the building. Plans for a 
building were secured, subscriptions solicited, additional appro- 
priations were obtained from the town, until in 1874 the building 
was completed and occupied, at a cost of nearly $80,000. Mr. 
Lilly was afterwards chosen by the town a member of the Public 
Library Committee and continued upon the committee to the 
time of his death. 



In 1884, Mr. Lilly learned while riding upon the cars with 
President L. Clark Seelye of Smith College, that the College 
needed a building for scientific education, and that he was going 
to New Bedford to try and obtain funds for the erection of such 
a building. Mr. Lilly did not forget the interview ; he was 
pleased with the spirit manifested by President Seelye, and much 
interested in the object which he had in view. Seeing President 
Seelye a year later he learned that the necessary funds had not 
been secured, and the result was an arrangement whereby Mr. 
Lillv was to furnisli the required amount. 

Mr. Lilly allowed the following paragraph to be incorpo- 
rated in the report of the executive committee of the Free Con- 
gregational Society in 1888 : 

"The majority of your committee would occupy this para- 
graph to declare, what the modesty of our esteemed associate, 
Mr. Lilly, forbids him to say, that it was owing to what he saw 
and experienced of the happy effects of giving the women an 
equal part with the men in the business of this society and in its 
public teachings, that he was led to make to Smith College, his 
noble and princely gift — the Lilly Hall of Science, — the first edi- 
fice of the kind, built for the benefit of women for instruction in 
natural science ; or to use the terse words engraved on the tab- 
let, "to teach the truth in nature," no expense having been spared 
that was needed to fit this building to the purpose for which it 
was designed." 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKKTCH. 21 

The buildiiiu,' was dedicatt-d Juiu- 226, 1886. Prof. J. P. 
Lesley of Philadelpliia, delivered an address in Music Mall on 
the " Utility of Physical Science in I^ducation," after which the 
audience adjourned to the lecture hall of the new Scientific 
huildini^. I'p to this time the name of the donor was not i>ub- 
licly known. 

President Seelye, in his introduction of Mr. Lilly, said : " I 
should much prefer that this building should be dedicated in si- 
lence. It speaks for itself. It marks an era in the education of 
woman. It is tlie lirst time in the history of the world, when a 
building like this has been devoted to the study of science in a 
female College. I met the donor ()f tiiis edifice on my way to 
Boston, two years ago, when I was seeking funds for a scien- 
tific building. He was in perfect sympathy with my errand, 
and put into mv hands the money with which to erect this Hall 
of Science. The donor believes in the education of women. 
If this College was for men the donor said he would never givea 
cent. He believes in science, and believes that truth is as valu- 
able for women as men." President Seelye then uncovered a 
bronze tablet bearing the words: "THE GIFT OF ALFRED 
THEODORE LILLY. TO TEACH THE TRUTH IN NA- 
TURE." After prolonged applause, the President announced 
that the building would hereafter be called the 

"LILLY HALL OF SCIENCE," 
and called upon the donor for remarks. Mr. Lilly was received 
with great enthusiasm. He said : 
Jfr. President, Ladies and Genilente?i : 

All of you who have a love for studying cause and effect, 
may be glad to learn how it was that the present event was 
brought to pass. Two years ago I became acquainted^with the 
needs of Smith College. The scientific department lacked the 
facilities to enable the Institution to afford that full and com- 
plete scientific education desirable. It was through the Presi- 
dent of the Institution, that I obtained in a free and easy con- 
versation this knowledge, as we were seated in a car taking us 
from Springfield to Boston. I think that the President was 



22 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

moved to open up the subject more to keep up a waning con- 
versation, than to accomplish the object of his journey. He let 
it appear that the College was in great need of a building, which 
should be complete in all its appointments, to enable students to 
obtain a full and complete scientific education. He wanted facil- 
ities, which would enable him to bring the students in direct 
contact with nature — to learn its truths, believing that the result 
would be a lasting benefit to mankind. I inquired if he thought 
woman possessed the intellectual capacity, fitting her to grasp 
the facts of science, equally as well as man ? The answer was, 
" Yes, and from my observation and experience, I believe more 
so." 

My most intimate friends will readily see that the President 
had presented a theme, and in a manner that found a ready re- 
sponse in my own mind. The President let it appear that the 
pecuniary condition of the College would not allow the trustees 
to make the necessary expenditure ; and hence they must find 
some person of means who was willing to aid them with a gift 
of sufficient amount to secure the object ; that he was then mak- 
ing a journey to New Bedford for that purpose. On parting, I 
expressed my sympathy in the work in which he was engaged, 
wishing him most heartily success in his undertaking. One year 
passed away. I inquired of the President as to what success he 
had met with in securing funds for the building he wanted. The 
answer was, that he had not met with any success ; and further, 
he had not met with any person who expressed such interest in 
the enterprise and sympathy with him, as myself — and somehow 
it seemed to me that he was seized with the idea that the ex- 
pressed interest was of itself sufficient to enable me to furnish 
the necessary means required, and — what is strange in the matter 
— made me believe it. 

We now stand in an edifice dedicated to science ; and may I 
fondly hope, to be exclusively devoted to the elevation and in- 
creased intelligence of woman. According to the record, man 
is indebted to woman for opening up to him the avenues of 
knowledge ; and still, he has until within a comparatively short 



BIOGRAIMIICAL SKKTCH. 



23 



period, ever kept her in a state of ignorance. Strange, indeed is 
it, that every fair-minded man, being ready to admit that woman 
is the greatest blessing bestowed upon him should have treated 
her thus. Progress of the world is marked by evolution, and as 
we compare the present with the past, we can see with the eye of 
vision, a bright future for woman. I am assured, that the build- 
ing we now dedicate to science, is complete in all of its parts, 
and of sufficient capacity to afford all of the facilities necessary 
to secure as complete an education in the sciences to the stu- 
dents of Smith College, as those afforded by Colleges devoted 
to the use of men exclusivcdy — and allow me here to discover a 
pride that I feel in this being the first building of equal capacity 
for the purpose intended, bestowed upon woman, and which I 
now" give as an humble tribute for ilie high esteem I have of her. 
May I not fondly hope that my estimate of the benefits to man- 
kind, which are to follow as the result of this act are not over- 
drawn ? At all events, may I not feel, that in connection with 
this building, the Observatory which is to be bestowed upon this 
Institution by a person or persons, governed by generous im- 
pulses, and whose aspirations pierce the sky, will -afford the stu- 
dents of Smith College help "to learn the truth in nature?" 
" Science ! thou fair, effusive ray, 

From the great source of mental day, 

Free, generous and refined ; 

Descend with all thy treasures fraught, 

Illumine each bewildered thought, 

And bless the studious mind. 

Oh ! let thy powerful charm impart 
The patient head, the candid heart, 
Devoted to thy sway ; 
Which no weak passions e'er mislead. 
Which still with dauntless steps proceed. 
Where reason points the way." 



When the Free Congregational Society was organized, books 
and periodicals were purchased for a free public library and 



24 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

Reading Room in Florence, and in the second story of the School 
building a room was made for this purpose. It was soon found 
that there was a feeling among those who did not belong to the 
Society, that the Library and Reading Room should be so owned 
that all who desired might feel free to use it. An effort was 
made in 1864, to have the Warner school district own it, and the 
Society offered to join with the people of the district in estab- 
lishing a free Library and Reading Room belonging to the district, 
but it did not succeed. In 1S70, an effort was made to have the 
town establish a branch library in Florence ; this was accom- 
plished in 1872, and the books of the Free Congregational Soci- 
ety were transferred to the town. In this effort to establish t^ie 
Library and Reading Room so that all might feel free to avail 
themselves of its advantages Mr. Hill and Mr. Lilly took an ac- 
tive part. In 1882, the room in the school building was needed 
for^school purposes, and it was necessary to find another place 
for the library. An effort was made by Florence people to have 
the town erect a building suitable for the purpose. Mr. Lilly 
was very much interested in this movement, and at his own ex- 
pense procured plans for a suitable building and offered to give 
the land for it. The Florence people were greatly interested, 
and with a single exception, it is believed were in favor of it. 
Mr. Lilly attended a meeting of the Public Library committee 
and endeavored to obtain from it a recommendation favoring the 
new building, but without success. A special meeting was called 
in 1883, to act upon the matter, and also upon the report of a 
committee to provide funds for tablets in Memorial Hall. Some- 
thing of the spirit of the opposition to the movement can be 
discovered in the following editorial item taken from a local 
paper previous to the town meeting: — "Taxes are creep- 
ing up in this town contrary to the general wish. The annual 
meeting appropriated considerable more than last year, and now 
^6,500 is wanted for memorial tablets, and Florence wants a li- 
brary building which will cost $5,000 to $10,000 more. The 
Philistines are upon us again sure ; and who is there that dares 
say no ? " 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKHTCH. 25. 

In the village of Florence at this time were about three 
thousand inhabitants, composed of as intelligent, industrious, 
law-abiding people as could be found in any community. The 
united pay rolls of the mills in the village amounted to about 
$40,000 per month ; they paid tlieir proportion of the taxes of 
the town, and wanted as good schools, and equal opportunities 
to enjoy a public library and reading room, as the people enjoyed 
in any other part of the town ; they had the same right as other 
voters to ask the town to make a legal appropriation of public 
money, and why it should have been assumed by the editor of 
the paper that those who opposed their project were the 
'•paints," and the people of Florence a horde of barbarians, was 
never clearly understood in that village. At the town meeting 
the vote was very close ; upon a test informal vote it was found 
that the "Philistines" in favor of the Florence project had a 
small majority ; upon a formal motion to appropriate $6,000 for 
a Library building in Florence, it was declared carried ; a doubt 
was expressed, and the meeting adopted a method of taking the 
vote which caused considerable delay, and gave an opportunity 
for a person in the meeting to go out upon the street and obtain 
a few men whom he hurried into the meeting to "vote against 
Florence," and by a vote of 144 to 125, the "Philistines" were 
defeated. 

The people of Florence were very much disap]>ointed at the 
result, and dissatisfied with the method by which it was ob- 
tained, no one more so than Mr. Lilly, who felt that no more had 
been asked than should have been granted. He went to work, 
however, and through his influence a place was obtained for the 
Library and reading room, which, while it was not all that was 
needed had the effect of increasing the use of books and period- 
icals. At this time Mr. Lilly was a very busy man and the de- 
mands upon his time and thought were unlimited, but he never 
overlooked the need in the village of a library building. He 
preserved the plans wliich he procured in 1S83, and when he de- 
cided to furnish the building, he gave them to the Library Asso- 
ciation, and asked that they be considered with others in decid- 



26 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

ing upon a plan for a new building. In 1888, after consultation 
with several persons in the village, he finally selected nine per- 
sons known to be interested in the Library, asked them to or- 
ganize as a corporation under the laws of Massachusetts as a 
Library Association, and deeded them a tract of land upon 
which to erect a building. He gave the Association $12,000 for 
the building, which was afterwards increased to $13,000. He 
also gave the Association $5,000 to expend for books, and pro- 
vided that the books of his private library, amounting to about 
four hundred volumes, should be placed in the Library, except 
such as the trustees of the Association might not desire to have 
placed there. Mr. Lilly was in feeble health at the time he 
arranged for this work, but he was able to consult with the trus- 
tees of the Association about the plan for a building, and the 
purchase of books. Whenever he was able he rode out to wit- 
ness the progress of the building. By the contract it was to 
have been completed in December, 1889, but the work under 
the contract was not completed till March, 1890. It was dedi- 
cated May 7th, 1890. 



Mr. Hill and Mr. Lilly both lived to see the public schools 
in Florence in a satisfactory condition, with every prospect of 
their continuance. Mr. Hill was constantly on the alert for ad- 
ditional methods to improve the system of public education. 
When the Kindergarten system was first introduced into this 
country it attracted his attention, and after investigation he de- 
cided in 1872, to commence the experiment in Florence under his 
personal observation. He employed a competent Kindergar- 
tener and established a Kindergarten in his own house. Later 
a room was used in Cosmian Hall. In 1876, he erected a build- 
ing expressly for a public Kindergarten, and employed a corps of 
Kindergarteners for the work. In December, 1876, he was ob- 
liged on account of his health, to leave his home for a change of 
climate ; he therefore placed the Kindergarten in the care and 
management of his children and a few friends, whom he ap- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKKTCII. 27 

pointed Trustees and Directors of the Institution, and made 
provision for the payment of all expenses. In his letter of ap- 
pointment, Mr. Hill set forth the object he had in view in the 

following words : 

"The oliject of the Institution being, as you are aware, to 
promote a healthy physical, intellectual and moral development 
of young children, and as may be practicable in connection 
therewith, to afford some appropriate education to llie mothers, 
regardless of conventional differences in society ; therefore in 
order that the advantiiges of the Institution may be acceptably 
extended to the people of the village generally, it is hereby 
made a condition of its direction and management, that it shall 
be conducted unmixed with any ecclesiastical or theological ex- 
ercises and influences." 

In another communication to the Trustees, he stated : 

"What was designed in making this experiment, was patient, 
persevering effort of the best Kindergarteners available with the 
means at command, through a series of years, with children 
who could be gathered in from the village, indiscriminately as 
to class or condition." 

By his will, Mr. Hill gave the Trustees certain property in 
trust, and provided for the payment of certain annuities. With 
reference to the Kindergarten, he made the following provision : 
"Said trustees are hereby directed to appropriate annually the 
balance of said income, or such portion thereof as they may 
deem expedient to continue in said village of Florence, the Kin- 
dergarten, so called, which has already been commenced and 
placed under their care and management by me ; said Institu- 
tion to be continued and conducted as heretofore, viz.: unmixed 
with ecclesiastical or theological exercises or influences, and es- 
pecially for the promotion of a healthy physical, moral and in- 
tellectual development of children of about three to seven years 
of age, residents of the village, without distinction on account 
of race, nationality, or previous condition, and is to be extended, 
continued indefinitely, or discontinued, at the discretion of said 
Trustees." He further provided : "Said Trustees are hereby 
directed to set apart the balance of the income from said trust 



28 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

funds for educational, charitable or other kindred purposes, or 
either of them, to be appropriated at their discretion in such 
manner as to them may appear expedient to promote the well- 
being and elevation of humanity." 

After Mr. Hill's death, by a special act of the Legislature of 
Massachusetts in 1884, the trustees were made a corporation by 
the name of the "Trustees of the Florence Kindergarten," for 
the purpose of holding and managing the funds bequeathed to 
them by Mr. Hill, and other property, real and personal, not 
exceeding in all Five Hundred Thousand Dollars, for the pur- 
poses of the trust set forth in said will. 

Mr. Lilly was one of those selected by Mr. Hill as a Trustee 
and Director of the Kindergarten. Upon the organization of 
the Trustees, he was chosen President of the Board, and contin- 
ued to hold that office to the time of his death. He devoted 
himself to this work with the same thoroughness with which he 
performed all other work ; he made himself familiar with the 
theory upon which the system of education is based, and 
found great enjoyment in visiting the sessions of the Kinder- 
garten, and witnessing the children at their exercises. During 
the sixteen years that he was connected with the Institution, he 
very rarely failed to attend the meetings of the Trustees, and 
endeavored faithfully to carry out the wishes of the founder of 
the Institution. The course of training occupies four years, the 
last year of the course being devoted to preparing the children 
to enter a certain grade of the public school. The average at- 
tendance is about eighty. The experiment thus commenced has 
been continued a length of time with sufficient care and in a 
manner to demonstrate to every one who has taken pains to in- 
vestigate it, that the Kindergarten system should be adopted as 
a part of the public school system of the city. 

Mr. Lilly, by his will, gave all of his estate to the Trustees 
of the Florence Kindergarten. He provided for an annual pay- 
ment to the Free Congregational Society, and a discretionary 
amount to the Lilly Library Association, and that the remain- 
der of the income "shall be applied in accordance with the trust 




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BIOGRAPHICAL SKI-TCII. 29 

u]:)()n which all the property of said Trustees of the Florence 
Kindergarten is held." 



Mr. Lilly's public action in religious etlucation was mainly 
in connection with the Free Congregational Society of Florence. 

He was one of the twenty-seven persons who signed the 
following call : • 

"To THK People of Florence .^xd Vicinity: 
All interested in the promotion of good morals, general edu- 
cation and liberal religious sentiments, whether Catholic or 
Protestant, or of whatever sect, creed or nationality, are invited 
to meet in the South School House, on Sunday, May 3, 1H63, at 
3 1-2 o'clock P. M., to organize arrangements for the better at- 
tainment of the objects above named." 

At a meeting held in juirsuance of this call, a corporation 
was formed under the following 

"ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT. 

We, the undersigned, inhabitants of Florence and its vicin- 
ity, in the town of Northampton, wishing to avail ourselves of 
the advantages of associate effort for our advancement in truth 
and goodness, and for the promotion of general intelligence,, 
good morals and liberal religious sentiments, do hereby agree 
to form ourselves into a body corporate under the name of the 
Free Conoregation.al Society of Florence. 

Respecting in each other and in all the right of intellect and 
conscience to be free, and holding it to be the duty of every one 
to keep his mind and heart, at all times open to receive the truth 
and follow its guidance, we set up no theological condition of 
membership, and neither demand nor expect uniformity of doc- 
trinal belief ; asking only unity of purpose to seek and accept 
the right and true, and an honest aim and effort to make these 
the rule of life. And, recognizing the brotherhood of the human 
race, and the equality of human rights, we make no distinction 
as to the conditions and rights of membership in this Society, 
on account of sex, or color, or nationality." 

He was chairman of the executive committee from its or- 
ganization to the time of his death, and its treasurer from 1864. 



30 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

to the day of his death. He was a constant attendant at its 
meetings, and took an active part in its Sunday school. By his 
will, he provided for the annual payment of one thousand dollars 
to the Society, "so long as said Society shall keep alive the work 
in the Sunday school and platform speaking, on the same liberal 
basis as has been practiced since the organization of the Society 
to the present time." 

The work of the Sunday school is fully outlined in the fol- 
lowing extracts from the reports of the executive committee : 

"In this Sunday Scho )1, to which every Sunday forenoon 
is devoted, both the young and old are profited and cheered by 
music, by declamations, by exhortations, by discussions, by les- 
sons in science, literature and goodness ; and all are encouraged 
to read, think and speak with entire freedom on all subjects re- 
lating to man's welfare. In addition to the adult classes for con- 
versational discussions, and the children's classes for moral in- 
struction, there have been others for the study of Natural History, 
Drawing, Book-keeping, the French and German languages, 
Botany, Physiology, Political Economy and Shakspeare ; all 
taught by competent teachers. Though the Bible has been used 
as one of the text-books, the members generally have not re- 
ceived it as authority, except so far as its teachings commend 
themselves to that reason and conscience which the Creator has 
implanted in man for his guidance. The children have been 
taught to think for themselves, and encouraged to study the 
great, older book of Nature ; to consider the starry heavens 
above them, and, as higher than all, the light of reason within 
them. They have been given free access to a library embracing 
a wide range of literature, containing expositions of almost 
every phase of belief ; and thus while teaching them to obey the 
injunctions of Jesus, to judge for themselves what is right, they 
have at the same time, been provided with opportunities and fa- 
cilities for so judging." 

The liberal basis upon which the platform speaking has been 
practiced, is fully stated in the following extracts from the re- 
ports of the executive committee : 

"The resident speaker is not, like the minister or pastor of 
most religious societies, pledged to advocate and defend a formal 
statement of faith. He is at liberty to express his latest 



BIOGRAl'IIICAL SKI:TCII. 31 

thought. It is understood that he speaks only for himself, and 
that his utterances, like those of any member of the Society, are 
at all times open to criticism. He is usually engaged to speak 
for a portion'^of the year, as it is the purpose, and has been the 
practice of the Society to have, during each year, a variety of 
speakers, so that every phase of tliought may he fairly repre- 
sented. The Society has been addressed by the representatives 
of Judaism, by orthodox and heretical Christians, by Spiritual- 
ists and Materialists, Theisls and Agnostics, and those who could, 
perhaps, hardly be classed theologically anvwhere." 

The Free Congregational Society of Morence was organized 
upon the theory of free thought and free speech. William Lloyd 
Garrison most clearly set forth this theory, and the reasonable- 
ness of it, in the following language, which was fully endorsed 
by the members of this Society : 

" Let, then, the mind and tongue and press be free. Let 
free discussion not only be tolerated, but encouraged, and as- 
serted as indispensable to the freedom and welfare of mankind. 

If I give my children no other precept — if I leave them no 
other example — it shall be a fearless, impartial, thorough inves- 
tigation of every subject to which their attention may be called, 
and a hearty adoption of the principles which to them may seem 
true, whether those principles may agree or conflict with my 
own, or with those of any other person. * * * 

I desire them to see, hear and weigh both sides of every 
question. For example: — I wish them to examine whatever may 
be advanced in opposition to the doctrine of the Divine inspira- 
tion of the Bible, as freely as they do whatever they find in sup- 
port of it ; to hear what may be urged against the doctrines, 
precepts, miracles or life of Jesus, as readily as they do anything 
in their defense ; to see what arguments are adduced for a belief 
in the non-existence of a God, as unreservedly as they do the 
evidence in favor of his existence. I shall teach them to regard 
no subject as too holy for examination. * * * 

And why do I intend to pursue such a course? Because I 
am not infallible, and therefore dare not put on the robes of in- 
fallibility. Because I think free inquiry is essential to the life of 
truth among mankind." 



32 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

When this Society was first organized, its meetings and Sun- 
day school were held in the " South School House." In 1864, 
Samuel L. Hill built, at a cost of $33,000, the present High 
School building in Florence, and deeded it to the Warner School 
district, reserving the use for ten years of the second story, 
which comprised a large hall for meetings, a smaller hall, and a 
third room for a Public Library and Reading Room. These 
rooms were used by the Society for meetings, Sunday school, and 
Public Library and Reading Room, until they were needed for 
school purposes. In 1S72, it was decided to erect another build- 
ing for the accommodation of the Society, and permit the second 
story rooms to be used for the public schools. This building 
was dedicated in 1874 as " Cosmian Hall." It cost about $40,- 
000, the larger part of which was paid by Samuel L. Hill. Mr. 
Lilly contributed about ;*;io,ooo towards the building, and was a 
large annual contributor to the Society. 

Mr. Lilly belonged to a class of religious skeptics called 
"Agnostics," the class to which such men as Tyndall, Huxley 
and Herbert Spencer belong. He believed in the most exhaust- 
ive investigation, with provisional suspension of positive conclu- 
sion. He did not deny the Divinity, and did not reject creative 
energy as a possibility — he said he knew nothing about it. Mr. 
Lilly was greatly interested in the doctrine of the immortality 
of the soul. He was familiar with all the grounds of such be- 
lief, and admitted the force of some of them, but while he would 
not assert that there is no future existence, he was not convinced 
that such is the fact. " He lived for this world ; if there be 
another he will live for that." 



No biographical sketch of Mr. Lilly would be complete 
without more than an incidental reference to his home and do- 
mestic life. He was married at Hebron, Ct., in 1838, to Lucy 
Maria Crane, daughter of Isaac and Constantia (Young) Crane 
of that town. Mrs. Lilly was a quiet, thoughtful, kind-hearted 
woman, highly esteemed by all who knew her. She was an ex- 






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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. ^^ 

cellent judge of character, firm in lier convictions, and very de- 
voted to her friends. She was very much attached to her home, 
and found her enjoyment there. To his friends, Mr. Lilly often 
spoke of the cheerfulness with which she practiced economy and 
self-denial, in their early married lift', thai he mii;-hl aid his 
father and mother, and often remarked that he owed his pros- 
perity largely to his wife. It was noticed that as he acquired 
property, he never failed to procure whatever he could learn 
would be a pleasure to his wife. She found enjoyment in the 
cultivation of fiowers, and a large part of the yard was devoted 
to this purpose. Nothing was spared by Mr. Lilly at this period 
to render the home all that his wife desired, and on her part the 
house was maintained solely for his comfort. This home was to 
him of the utmost importance ; he could not have applied him- 
self so continually to the active, responsible work which he per- 
formed, if it had not been for the rest and recreation of his 
home. Here he was at his best. To the stranger who had 
claims on his hospitality, to his acquaintances and friends, he 
devoted himself with a cheerfulness and consideration for their 
comfort and enjoyment which was the delight of all. 

Mrs. Lilly was in full sympathy with her husband in all of 
his benevolence, and was especially pleased with his gift to 
Smith College for the Hall of Science for Women. 

Mr. and Mrs. Lilly had no children, but from childhood, 
Mrs. Mary Valentine Ross lived with them until the time of her 
marriage. Mrs. Ross' children were at home in Mr. Lilly's 
house, and were a great comfort to Mr. and Mrs. Lilly in their 
declining years. 

Mr. Lilly's sister, Mrs. Martha Crane, of Mansfield, Conn., 
died in 1881, a few days after a visit to his house. His sister, 
Julia, whose home had been with him, and who had been a help- 
less invalid for years, died in 1884. Mrs. Lilly died November 
2d, 1886. After this he seemed to be alone. He made an effort 
to arrange his household, and to occupy his time with his work 
that he might not feel his loss so keenly. 



34 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

He was fortunate in his household arrangement after the 
death of his wife. The nurse who had cared for his sister dur- 
ing the years of her illness, and who remained with them while 
Mrs. Lilly lived, continued, with her sister, as his housekeeper. 
All that it was possible to do, was done to make his home what 
he needed, and to care for him. 

He tried to be cheerful and bear his sorrow without outward 
manifestations, but to his most intimate friends he sometimes 
disclosed the great grief which oppressed him. He had outlived 
all of his race except a few distant relatives. To his friends it 
was apparent that he was gradually declining. He continued 
to act as the treasurer of the Nonotuck Silk Company until the 
end of his term of office in 1887, but by the advice of his phy- 
sician and friends, he declined a re-election. After this he oc- 
cupied his time about various matters of business for himself 
and others, enjoyed the society of his books and his numerous 
friends, and hoped by proper care to maintain his strength. 

He was constantly visited by his friends and neighbors ; 
even the children found enjoyment in calling upon him and 
bringing him flowers. On his birthday in 1887, several friends 
called upon him with congratulations and sweet remembrances 
of their call. A local paper reported the event as follows : "The 
flowers gave a surprise party yesterday to that flower that Solo- 
mon, in all his glory could not compare with, — the ' Lilly.' 
Early in the morning came the thoughtful pansies to remind him 
that the seventy-fourth year had begun, and bringing with them 
the lovely ' Lady Washington.' Then came the roses, the calla 
lilies, and from Cosmian Hall Sunday school a large delegation 
from the rose family ; but all these beautiful blossoms could not 
outshine the last visitor, the modest little English violet, which 
filled the air with exquisite perfume. Standing there, surrounded 
by all these rich exotics, the ' A. T. Lilly ' was king of them all." 

In the early fall of 1888, he arranged for the erection of the 
Library Building, and the same season he provided by his will 
for the disposition of his estate at his death. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 35 

He was able to ride out till late in the fall of 1889, and con- 
tinued to hope for a little improvement in his health. 

Thus among his friends, surrounded by such recognitions of 
his useful life, his strength gradually failed, until the end came, 
January 21st, 1890. 



Funeral Service. 



Funeral Service. 



The tuneral service was helci on Tliursday afternoon, Jan- 
uary 23d, at two o'clock. 

It was arranged at first to iiold the service at Mr. Lilly's 
house, but the desire to attend was soon found to be so general, 
that it was necessary to have it in Cosmian Hall. 

One of the largest gatherings that ever convened in this city 
on a funeral occasion, filled the Hall long before the hour named. 
All the seats and standing room were occupied, and many were 
unable to gain admission. Business was generally suspended, 
and all classes of the community were largely represented, in- 
cluding large delegations from the Grand Army Post, Smith 
College faculty and students, the local military organizations. 
and business and professional circles. 

Messrs. George T. Cutler, Myron C. Howard, L. F. S. 
Plimpton and George S. Graves acted as bearers, and the Lilly 
Drum Corps, Grand Army Veterans and Military representatives 
performed escort duty. 

A large crayon portrait of Mr. Lilly looked down upon the 
vast assembly from the platform, amid a wealth of floral beauty, 
furnished and arranged by Mrs. Mary S. Mann. 

The Cosmian choir rendered the musical selections : "Why 
Mourning Humanity ?" "Benevolence," and "Lay Me Low." 

AT THE HOUSE. 

Rev. F. A. Hinckley read selections as follows : 
A true home is more than the world, more than honor and 
pride and fortune. The light, the noon-day sun, may not yield, 
and yet the tiny flame of one pure beam of love enkindleth, and 
sympathy makes to burn forever. 



40 ALFRED THEODORE] LILLY. 

We saw him in the garden, the pleasant garden, with his 
companions and his friends, the friends whom he loved. His 
friends and his neighbors blessed him. His home was the shel- 
ter of happiness. Peace be unto him I We saw him giving 
food to the hungry, and clothing to the naked. We saw him 
giving help and succor to the aged, and good counsel to the 
young. He suffered not the stranger to sleep in the streets ; he 
opened his door to the wayfarer. Peace be upon him. 

— Syrian. 



Genius has its triumphs, fame its glories, wealth its splen- 
dor, success its bright rewards, but the heart only hath its home. 



Mr. Hinckley then said : 

The hearts that have had their home here have all ceased 
to beat. The years during which this home has been a Mecca to 
so many of us have come to a close. And we now go to bear 
away all that was mortal of him who did so much to make it 
what it was. It is a tender errand. May we discharge it faith- 
fully in reverence and love. 

AT COSMIAN HALL. 

After an organ voluntary, the following selections were read 
by Mr. Hinckley : — 

He has done the work of a true man, — 
Crown him, honor him, love him. 
Weep over him, tears of woman, 
Stoop manliest brows above him. 

For the warmest of hearts is frozen, 
The freest of hands is still ; 
And the gap in our picked and chosen, 
The long years may not fill. 

No duty could overtask him, 
No need his will outrun ; 
Or ever our lips could ask him, 
His hands the work had done. 



FUNERAL SERVICE. 41 

And he saw ere his eye was darkened, 
The sheaves of the harvest-bringing ; 
And knew while his ear yet hearkened, 
The voice of the reapers singing. 

— Whit tier. 



He was one of the leaders of the people, men renowned for 
power, for counsel, for understanding and foresight, rich men 
furnished with ability, living peaceably in their habitations, wise 
in their teachings, and by their knowledge made fit helpers of 
their fellow-men. Such are honored in their generation, and are 
the glory of their times. They leave a name behind them, and 
their remembrance is sweet as honey in all mouths. Their bodies 
are buried in peace ; but their works live on forever. The people 
will tell of their wisdom, and after times will show forth their 
praise. For the memorial of virtue is immortal. While it is 
present men take example of it ; and when it is gone they desire 
it. It weareth a crown forever, having gotten the victory, striv- 
ing for undefiled rewards. 

— Hebrew. 



I lived in truth and fed my soul with justice. What I did to 
men was done in peace. I have given bread to the hungry, wa- 
ter to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, and shelter to the stranger. 

— Egyptian. 



I have had no greater joy than to walk in the truth. 



It is only when one is thoroughly true that there can be 
purity and freedom. Falsehood always punishes itself. 

— German. 



Hide not the truth when you know it ; and clothe not the 

truth with falsehood. 

— Arabian. 



42 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

Let truth and falsehood grapple. Who ever knew truth put 

to the worse by a free and open encounter ? 

— ATiltivi. 



The unbeliever is he who deliberately declines to speak 

what he thinks, or to trust humanity with what helpful truth has 

been entrusted to himself. 

— Samuel Johnson. 



Let thine eyes look straight on, and let thine eyelids look 

straight before thee. Remove thy feet from evil. Turn not to 

the right hand nor to the left. Ponder the path of thy feet, and 

let all thy ways be established. 

— Hebrew. 



Let the counsel of thine own heart stand, for there is no 
man more faithful unto thee than it. A man's mind is sometimes 
wont to tell him more than seven watchmen that sit above in a 
high tower. In no wise speak against the truth, and refrain not 
to speak when there is occasion to do good ; for by speech wis- 
dom shall be known. 

— Jewish. 



He that feeds men serveth few ; 

He serves all who dares be trvie. 

— Emerson. 



I am a man, and nothing that concerns human beings is in- 
different to me. — Roman. 



The world is my country. To do good is my religion. I 
believe in the equality of men, and I believe that duty consists in 
doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fel- 
low-creatures happy. 

— Thomas Faine. 



FUXERAL SERVICE. 



43 



My doctrine makes no distinction between high and low, 
rich and poor. It is like water which washes and purifies all 
alike. It is like the sky, for it has room for all. 

— Hindoo. 



I will live and die with this testimony, — that I never invaded 
another man's freedom, and that I preserved mv own. 

— Roman. 



I call that mind free which sets no bounds to its love : which 
is not imprisoned in itself, or in a sect ; which delights in virtue, 
and sympathizes with suffering, wherever they are seen ; which 
conquers pride, anger and sloth, and offers itself up a willing 
victim to the cause of mankind. 

— CJianniiiir. 



Up and away, like the dew of the morning, 
That soars from the earth to its home in the sun, 
So let me steal away, gently and lovingly. 
Only remembered by what I have done. 

My name, and my place, and my tomb all forgotten. 
The brief race of time well and patiently run ; 
So let me pass away, peacefully, silenily. 
Only remembered by what I have d(5ne. 

Up and away, like the odors of sunset, 
That sweeten the twilight as darkness comes on ; 
So be my life, — a thing felt, but not noticed. 
And I but remembered by what I have done. 

Yes, like the fragrance that wanders in freshness, 

When the flowers that it came from are closed up and gone ; 

So would I be to this world's weary dwellers, 

Only remembered by what I have done. 

Needs there the praise of the love-written record, 
The name, and the epitaph graved on the stone? 
The things we have lived for, — let them be our story, 
We ourselves but remembered by what we have done. 



44 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

I need not be missed, if my life has been bearing 
(As its summer and autumn moved silently on), 
The bloom, and the fruit, and the seed in its season ; 
I shall still be remembered by what I have done. 

I need not be missed, if another succeed me. 

To reap down those fields which in spring I have sown. 

He who ploughed and who sowed is not missed by the reaper. 

He is only remembered by what he has done. 

Not myself, but the truth that in life I have spoken. 
Not myself, but the seed that in life I have sown, 
Shall pass on to ages, all about me forgotten. 
Save the truths I have spoken, the things I have done. 

So let my living be, so be my dying ; 
So let my name lie unblazoned, unknown, 
Unpraised and unmissed, I shall still be remembered. 
Yes, but remembered by what. I have done. 

— Bo liar. 



The choir then sang one of Mr. Lilly's favorite hymns, after 
which Mrs. Elizabeth Powell Bond spoke as follows : 

This silent presence, dear friends, is more eloquent than 
words can be. The strong personality of our beloved friend 
seems yet to invest this worn out temple of his untiring mind. 
The unseeing eyes and the unspeaking lips are powerless to 
make him dead ; in him was such fullness of life. 

The lines which come to my mind for this memorial hour, he 
might not have chosen to use himself ; but I love to recall the 
gentleness and heartiness with which he would sometimes say, 
" You and I do not see things exactly alike, but we need not 
quarrel with each other for that, and you shall report things as 
they seem to you, and I will enjoy the same liberty." His 
strong, sincere life brings to my mind the lines of Emerson :. 
" One accent of the Holy Ghost, 
This heedless world has never lost." 
The life which we commemorate in this hour, was not an accent 
merely — it was a whole message of the Holy Ghost ; and it will 
not be lost upon a heedless world. Its message was sincerity. 



FUNERAL SERVICE. 45 

He fearlessly sought the truth, and witliout fear or mental reser- 
vation he expressed his convictions. By nature an idealist in the 
finest meaning of that word, from the force of circumstances in 
early life it had become the lial)it of his mind to question ideals, 
to satisfy himself (nily with realities that he could analyze and 
classify. His questioning of ideals, not always gentle, it is true, 
sometimes impatient even, was always sincere ; and I believe 
that his name can never be named in our community that it will 
not, be a witness for the Truth. This is high praise ; but you 
who knew him best will feel as I do, that it is a testimony earned 
by a long life of faithful endeavor. 

In this last hour in which we shall have his bodily presence 
with us, I wish to couple witli his t)wn a name which he always 
softened his own to speak. It seemed as if he could not enough 
express his tenderness and love when he said, " My honored 
father." It was a beautiful example of filial devotion. The 
strong man, the man of three score and ten years, became of 
childlike spirit when lie recalled the wisdom and virtue of his 
"honored father." His tenderness and devotion in the family 
relation, as son and brother and husband, were graces of his na- 
ture, that, like the growth of some elms, seemed to wreathe the 
ruggedness of his strength, and soften the outlines of his stal- 
wart character. Sons and daughters of his own blood had he 
not. But there is one to whom he stood as a father ; one who 
has been a devoted daughter to him, and to whom his departure 
is an irreparable loss. How generous he has been of fatherly 
love, and practical interest in many young people who have 
come under his notice. How he watched the young men of this 
village, and called to his aid in planning for their welfare, those 
whose sympathies he thought would draw the yt)ung to them. 
The little children loved him. It would be sweet to him to 
know, that one mother, almost a stranger to him, holds him in 
pleasant memory, because her little three-year-old boy watched 
for his coming, to be patted on the head by his gentle hand, and 
to receive his caressing words. It was in his power to bestow 
large gifts upon his townsmen ; and he did not forget the smaller 



46 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

benefactions, the light and warmth of the bright word, and the 
cordial greeting. 

We are here, not only as fellow citizens, as interested neigh- 
bors, as loving friends, but we are all heirs of his bounty. The 
competence earned by hard work, coupled with business ability, 
he has shared with us for all time. It is a beautiful thought 
that his life is perpetuated in the aids which he has provided for 
the scientific study which he so much valued ; that where he 
toiled and spent himself in the years of his business activity, he 
was really setting in motion forces that must go on in their re- 
sults forever and ever. We shall not see his face among us any 
more ; but surely his life will go on in our midst ; in the means 
of mental and spiritual life which he has stored up for us in the 
Library which will bear his name. 

Science Hall and the beautiful Library, both the children of 
his bounty, will perpetuate his name in this community ; indeed, 
his name will be borne by the maidens whom he delighted to 
serve, beyond his own town and state. I do not forget — I think 
he would wish me not to forget — that there are strong young 
men who have his name in their keeping. Whatever may have 
been his hopes for good, from the scientific study which he pro- 
moted, and from the store of books which he has provided for 
us, they could hardly have come so near his heart's core as these 
young men who bear his name incorporated in their own. For 
his dear sake, I would remind them that it is a sacred trust. It 
is a name that stands for sincerity, for integrity, for tenderness, 
for personal purity. No result of hard work, of the stern disci- 
pline of life, could be so precious in his sight as the honor of 
his own name multiplied and brightened in the attainments of 
these young sons of his adoption. 

He would say that he had tried to live for the good of man. 
Not a word would he add. I, seeing things as I do, would add 
that every life lived for the good of man, is a life lived to the 
glory of God, — that cvily a life lived for the glory of man can be 
a life lived to the glory of God. He called by the name of Law, 
the invisible, inscrutable Power that it is given to some natures 



FUNERAL SERVICE. 47 

to invest with more personal elements than he could ; and to 
this Power he bowed with absolute loyalty, without question 
and without impatience. Without profession of faith in the or- 
dinary acceptance of this expression, he was so faithful, that I 
seem to see mourning among the Heavenly Powers that our 
needy world should miss his steadfastness. 

After the death of his wife, a little more than three years 
ago, he wrote to me, "The whole atmosphere about me seems to 
be permeated with sympathy, making me feel that both my wife 
and self have builded better than we knew." The close sympa- 
thy of his friends in these last years of declining health has been 
very precious to him — "like dew upon the mown grass." It has 
been the manna ujion which his soul has fed. 

Dear, tender, stalwart soul, we give thanks for thy life 
among us, for thy benefactions to us. We give thee joy that 
physical infirmity is ended ; we, left at our posts to do this 
world's work will remember thy courage and steadfastness, and 
press on in thy footprints. 

After another hymn sung by the choir, President L. Clark 
Seel^'e of Smith College, bore his tribute to Mr. Lilly's life and 
work. 

The following words give a brief abstract of President 
Seelye's address : — 

It is said that when Saladin died, his garment was fastened 
to his spear and carried through the streets of Damascus, with 
the cry, "This is all that is left of Saladin." This coffin does 
not contain all that remains of our departed friend. We call 
him dead, but his life encompasses us ; the walls of the l)uil(ling 
in which we gather ; this Society ; these various industries ; this 
prosperous community ; the adjoining Library ; the various ed- 
ucational, civil and military organizations here represented, — all 
speak to us of him. That which is mortal vanishes, but the 
power of his life remains. Love never dies, charity never faileth. 
It is fitting that to-day we emphasize some characteristics of the 
life which we commemorate. 



48 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

It was an upright life. The strictest integrity characterized 
his dealings with men. No one hesitated to trust his word. He 
was true to his business engagements. By nature a doubter, he 
had nevertheless, a strong desire to know the truth, and what he 
believed to be the truth he held, regardless of consequences. 

It was a philanthropic life. He was a lover of men, although 
he was severe in his denunciation of all shams or unfair dealing. 
His sympathy was with the poor and oppressed ; the slave had 
in him a champion, and his voice was ever in favor of human 
liberty. 

" I feel," he writes in one of his letters, " that it will be a sat- 
isfaction to me at the close of my life, to be able to quote 
Othello with variations, to wit : — ' I have done mankind some 
service.' " 

It was because he felt that women had not had equal 
advantages, that he seconded so heartily the movement to give 
them a higher education. His generous gift to found the Lilly 
Hall of Science will be a lasting monument to his philanthropy. 
In regard to the gift he wrote : — 

" I do not give from pecuniary or mercenary motives, neither 
do you receive for financial or self-aggrandizement, — but both 
have the same object in view — that of benefiting mankind 
through a source long neglected — the education of woman." 

To perfect man through a knowledge of the truth, was his 
aim. To this end he gave generously of his fortune. The in- 
scription upon the memorial tablet in Lilly Hall, expresses his 
spirit : — " To teach the truth in Nature." 

It is not for me to speak to-day concerning his creed ; others 
can do that more appropriately. I may say, however, although 
we differed widely in our religious opinions, I respected his sin- 
cerity. To him I might apply the words which Jacobi once 
wrote of Spinoza, — "However thou mightest philosophize over 
the nature of the Highest Being, and lose thy way and thy 
words, His truth was in thy soul, and His love was thy life." 
Whatever speculations Mr. Lilly may have had concerning im- 
mortality and the great hereafter, he sought to regulate his life 



FUNERAL SERVICE. 49 

by the truth, and charity was its hit;lu'st inspiration. Believing, 
as I do, in a religion which is more com]-)rehensive than our 
creeds, and whose characteristic spirit its founder expressed in 
the words, " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these, 
my brethren, ye have done it unto me," I cannot but hope that 
this friend who recognized so clearly the common brotherhood 
of man, will at last recognize the common fatherhood of God. 
To every sincere seeker after truth the promise is, "Ye shall 
know tlie truth, and the truth shall make j^ou free." With faith 
in that promise, may we not ccMifidently leave him in the keeping 
of an all-loving and gracious God? 

Mr. Hinckley then said : — 

Earnest man, brave thinker, tender-hearted friend, how in- 
adequate seem all our words in the presence of thy completed 
earth-life. Sharers of thy counsels, recipients of thy silent 
kindnesses, witnesses of thy public benefactions, how shall we 
pay the debt we owe ? We can seem to see thee now in thv early 
struggles, assuming on the very threshold of young manhood, 
responsibilities such as come to few, meeting every exigency of 
mature life with inflexible honesty and perseverance, and win- 
ning slowly, but surely, in the home of thy adoption, a large 
and lasting material success. We can seem to see thee, now, 
giving the hand of sympathy to every sorrowing and troubled 
heart, calling the children about thee in confidence and affection, 
and taking a constant interest in the welfare of young men. We 
recall at this hour, thy unpopular championship of both phvsical 
and mental freedom, when their friends were but few ; thy ser- 
vice to the cause of temperance, by thine own personal habits 
and public advocacy ; thy active interest in all town and city af- 
fairs ; thy enthusiasm for the Grand Army with all of its stirring 
memories and its higher ambitions, — how well some of us knew 
that ; thy devotion to education, early and always shown toward 
the public school, and in one of the crowning acts of th}' life, in 
the structure of a Hall of Science for the study of Truth as it 
is in Nature ; and last, though not least, the expression of th\' 



50 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

love for this immediate community in the Library building 
which rightly bears thy name, and shall breathe thy spirit. We 
see all these things now ; we recall them all now. And gathered 
here, representatives of them all, with a warmth of feeling 
toward the man who knew so well how to stand in a minority of 
one, of which he little dreamed, we can but think that thou hast 
been fortunate in thy life, and fortunate in the time of thy 
taking off. 

Thy sheaves ripe for the harvest, beneath all differences of 
theology or politics, thy goodness recognized, thy work practi- 
cally done, thou hast left behind thee only a sacred memory and 
grateful hearts. Peace to thee — loving son, brother and hus- 
band ; peace to thee, — good neighbor and friend ; peace to thee 
— public-spirited citizen, and friend of human rights ; in the 
name of the truth, which was thy leader, and the love which 
toned thy life, we will now all say, peace be to thee. 

The choir then sang, " Lay . me low," and Mr. Hinckley 
closed the service with these words : — 

And now we go to lay low the body, but the real man still 
lives in a community made better by his presence ; still lives, 
and will live always, in immortal memories and immortal hopes. 

An opportunity was then given for a last look at the familiar 
features, after which the large company followed the body to the 
cemetery. As it was lowered into the grave, Mr. Hinckley said: 

And now, farewell, kind friend, upright citizen, brave man, 
— farewell. The good universe which has always held thee, 
holds thee still. Its peace be forever thine. 



Obituary Notices. 



Obituary Notices. 



From tlie Northanipto)i Daily Ihrald. 

In the death this morning of Alfred T. Lilly, this city loses 
from its citizenship, one of its most honorable and most honored 
men, and all of its material and moral interests suffer the loss 
of a foremost, fearless, steadily useful, and invariably reliable 
advocate and champion. The w^orld loses one of the most honest 
and most just of independent thinkers, and t)ne of the sincerest 
of souls in obedience to what were his own convictions of right 
and justice. That Mr. Lilly was a man of iron will, a rugged, 
invulnerable individuality that held inflexibly to its own course, 
against all opposition, wise or otherwise, when once that course 
was decided upon, with an invincibleness that was sometimes 
deaf to the influence of the modifying second thought that is 
often a wise counsellor, his best friends also admit ; and while 
this inflexibility of will largely made its possessor the man that 
he was, it also created for him experience undesirable, and made 
him liable to misapprehension among those who would other- 
wise have understood him best and esteemed him most. But if 
ever the world has held a man true to what he believed was 
truth, and right, and justice, Alfred Theodore Lilly was such a 

man. 

Mr. Lilly was born in Mansfield, Conn., April 15, 1813, as he 
himself often remarked, with all of the sturdy independence of 
the spirit of the war of 181 2. His father was Alfred Lilly, with 
whom the deceased had his first experience in silk manufacture, 
but the venture proved unsuccessful. Mr. Lilly also engaged in 
the business of auger-making for some time. Afterwards he was 
for a short time employed in the grocery business in Providence, 
R. L, and while there was recommended to the late Samuel L. 



54 



ALFRED THEODORE LILLY 



Hill of Florence, as a reliable business man, Mr. Hill at that 
time being in search of such a man for an assistant in the Non- 
otuck Silk business in Florence. The result was that Mr. Lilly 
entered the business as an employe in May, 1S53, steadily rose in 
it, until he became a leading member of the firm, was chosen 
a director when the Company was incorporated in 1865, and 
made its treasurer February 5th, 1872. a position he retained un- 
til he resigned it in 1887, owing to his increasing physical feeble- 
ness. 

In 1838, Mr. Lilly married Lucy Maria Crane of Hebron, 
Ct., and for forty-nine years Mr. and Mrs. Lilly found their 
married life one of harmonious mutual happiness, such as is 
rarely experienced, Mrs. Lilly being a woman of a gentle, quiet 
nature, but richly endowed with the beauty of soul which is a 
perennial charm, only increasing in value with added years ; and 
ever faithfully and with true wifely devotion she stood beside 
her husband alike in adversity and prosperity, and Mr. Lilly al- 
ways declared with deep feeling that he " owed everything to 
her." Mrs. Lilly died three years ago, and earth has been a 
lonely place for the aged husband since, the shadows her passing 
left within his heart and upon his face, never having been lifted 
or lightened. No children were ever born to them, but Mrs. 
Dwight Ross of Florence, was from childhood, we think, an in- 
mate of their home, and bore to them the relation of a 
daughter. 

Mr. Lilly was treasurer of the Free Congregational Society, 
since its organization, and was ever one of its leading spirits and 
most prominent workers and largest supporters. He gave $400 
every year to the financial aid of the Society, always largely 
aided the Sunday School connected with it in various ways, one 
feature of this benevolence being the contributing of forty or 
fifty volumes to the Sunday School library yearl}^ He always 
furnished the annual Christmas dinner for the Cosmian Hall 
Sunday School, and always remembered the teachers of the 
Sunday School and members of the choir each Christmas with 
appropriate gifts. 



FUNERAL SKRXICL;. 55 

Mr. Lilly's charities were a leading feature of his late years, 
but they were dispensed with his characteristic peculiarity of 
purpose and method. \''ery rarel}^ did his left hand know what 

his right hand was doing, and the left hand was usually as busy 
as his right. His benevolence to the poor has been far more ex- 
tensive than but very few know, and often his beneficiaries never 
knew where their aid came from. To young men struggling 
against povertv and obstacles of any character, whom he be- 
lieved were doing tlu'ir best to make their own way, Mr. Lilly 
was always very kind, in the sid)slantial way which best illus- 
trates sympathy, as many can and do testify to-day, with wet 
eyes and faltering tones, which lunor their manhood. 

The soldiers of the civil war always found in Mr. Lilly one 
of their warmest friends, intense patriotism being one of his 
predominating characteristics, and the local Grand Army vet- 
erans have again and again received generous evidence of this 
interest, Mr. Lilly presenting the relief Fund of the Post with 
$1000 in cash, and always was ready to give an open-handed lift 
to all their enterprises. The youthful Drum Corps, which bears 
his name, and was organized by him, was one of Mr. Lilly's pro- 
teges, he being himself an ardent and skillful wielder of the 
drum sticks in his young days, and the young men who makeup 
the Lilly Drum Corps have received all their equipments, 
uniforms, instruments, etc., from their kindly patron. 

The Smith College Lilly Hall of Science, for llu- founding 
of which, in 1885, Mr. Lilly gave $30,000, is the most conspicu- 
ous illustration of the benevolence of the deceased, he subse- 
quently adding $2,500 to the sum, and has also donated other 
money gifts to the College, having a very great interest in the 
general advancement of women, and taking special interest in 
the educational advancement of the sex. 

Mr. Lilly is also the donor of the Free Library building, 
which has just been completed in Florence, giving $13,000 for 
the purpose. 

E,' Anti-slavery days had no more aggressive and fearless 
champion of human rights than Alfred T. Lilly, he being one of 



56 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

the Spartan band of simon-pure Garrisonians who steadily ad- 
hered to the no-surrender, no-compromise, I-will-be-heard policy 
till victory crowned them. The temperance conflict of these 
later days, also loses in his death one of its truest and ablest 
friends, and all effort looking toward the uplifting and moral 
betterment of humanity always received his warm sanction and 
generous helpfulness. 

Of late years, Mr. Lilly has engaged quite extensively in 
farming, and local land improvement, holding the opinion that 
more money could be made in agricultural pursuits than in any 
other way, if only proper methods were applied in the work. 

For many years Mr. Lilly has been afflicted with chronic 
bronchitis, but not until the last two or three months has he 
yielded to physical weakness so as to be confined to his home. 
But for the last three weeks failure has been rapid, and for the 
last week his suffering has been such that the end brought wel- 
come release. 

The funeral will be held on Thursday afternoon, at 2 o'clock, 
at the residence of the deceased. Rev. Mr. Hinckley conducting 
the service, assisted by Mrs. Elizabeth Powell Bond, the former 
resident speaker of the Cosmian Society, and the beloved and 
valued friend of Mr. and Mrs. Lilly. Wm. L. Baker Post and 
Lilly Drum Corps will be present in full numbers and perform 
escort duty. 

Next Sunday will be made a Memorial Sunday at Cosmian 
Hall. In the morning, the Sunday School services will be of that 
character, and old friends of Mr. Lilly will be invited to take 
part in the exercises. In the afternoon, Mr. Hinckley will give 
a discourse. The public generally will be very cordially wel- 
comed. 

Front the Spritii^field Repul'lUan. 

Alfred Theodore Lilly, the philanthropist and manufacturer, 
died at his home in Florence early yesterday morning, in his 77th 
year. Mr. Lilly will be missed, and not alone in the immedi- 
diate community, whose business interests he so largely devel- 
oped. His memory will be perpetuated by the Scientific Hall he 



OBITTARV NOTICES. 57 

endowed at Smith College ; by the Library which he gave to the 
village in which his life was passed, and the schools that he aided 
largely in supporting. But the personality of his sturdy charac- 
ter, the impress of his original and independent convictions, and 
above all, the unrecorded deeds of kindness, will be more wide- 
reaching in their influence than any Institution that his money 
endowed. Mr. Lilly would not associate himself with professing 
Christian believers, liut the harsh characterization of " atheist," 
could only be ajij^lied by those unacquainted with the gentleness 
and purity of his character, and the earnestness with which he 
sought after truth. Men often misunderstood him on account 
of his religious views, but they could not fail to admire his hon- 
esty, generosity and strength. In the Cosmian Hall Society, 
which he supported because of its educational work, he was the 
patriarch, and in its Sunday School was the children's friend. 
He took special delight in the concerts of the infant department, 
and was never happier than wIumi surrounded bv a group of little 
ones. His birthdays were remembered by the children, and the 
ceremony of wreathing garlands of flowers about him was a fea- 
ture of one of these anniversaries that illustrated their fondness 
of him. 

Mr. Lilly was born at Mansfield, Ct., April 15, 1813. As he 
grew up he became associated with his father in the manufacture 
of augers, and after his father retired from business in 1835, the 
young man carried on the business for a number of years and 
later became interested in silk manufacture, and for a time 
traveled to introduce the sale of American silk, an industry then 
in its infancy. Subsequently he went to Providence, R. I., 
where he was found by the late Samuel L. Hill, and induced to 
remove to Florence in 1853. Having a practical knowledge of 
the manufacture of silk, Mr. Lilly at once assumed the superin- 
tendency of the business, which was then a small affair. From 
that time he remained with the Company until 1887, taking the 
position of treasurer and general manager in 1872, on the retire- 
ment of Mr. Hill, although he had been the active head for years 
before that. His ability at the head of such a large business was 



58 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

readily recognized. His associates relied upon him as thor- 
oughly frank and truthful, a man who would tolerate no sham. 
The hundreds in his employ respected, and almost revered him, 
and labor questions were never a source of annoyance at the 
Nonotuck silk mills. 

Mr. Lilly always took a deep interest in educational matters, 
and his admiration for scientific knowledge took practical shape 
in his generous gift to Smith College. The Lilly Hall of 
Science, which he founded at a cost of $35,000, was formally 
opened June 22, 1886. 

The love of real, accurate, scientific knowledge influenced 
Mr. Lilly in religious matters, and led him to discard all biblical 
revelations, so that he never got very near the Christian church. 
What could be demonstrated by science he would accept, and he 
would stop right there. While he was a large contributor to the 
Free Congregational Society of Florence, and one of its leading 
officers since its organization, he united with it as an educational 
enterprise, and not as a religious institution. To him it was an 
instrument of education, and he insisted that the platform 
should be free — that every man should have a right to express 
his opinion. Mr. Lilly always took a lively interest in town af- 
fairs, and regularly at town meetings was an advocate of all im- 
provements, especially if they related to schools or libraries. 
For a score of years he was a member of the Public Library 
committee, and he contributed liberally towards the Memorial 
Hall. Last year he gave about $20,000 for the erection and 
equipment of a Library building at Florence, which is now 
nearly completed. Few men were more patriotic than Mr. Lilly, 
and his love for the war veterans, and what they represent, is 
well known. Not long ago he gave Wm. L. Baker Post, G. A. 
R., $1000, to be used for charitable purposes. With him money 
was used as a means of usefulness and aid to his fellow-men. 
He was ever the poor man's friend, and his benefactions were 
wide and varied. Many a young man owes his start in life to 
Mr. Lilly, and many a person in distress was relieved by his gen- 
erosity. 



OBITUARY NOTICES. 59 

His business energies were not confined wholly to the silk 
industry, but he was ever alert to aid by his means and counsel 
any promising enterprise. He aided in the organization of the 
Florence Savings Bank, and was its president from its establish- 
ment to his death. The same is true of the Florence Furni- 
ture Company. At the request of Mr. Hill, he acted as one of 
the Trustees of the Florence Kindergarten. About two years 
ago, he made a will, by which his estate goes to the Florence 
Kindergarten for educational purposes in general. 

By this will, D. W. Bond and A. G. Hill were designated ex- 
ecutors. So far as known Mr. Lilly left no near relations. He 
married Lucy Maria Crane of Hebron, Ct., in 1838, and for near- 
ly fifty years they lived a happy, contented married life. Mrs. 
Lilly's death, about three years ago, was a blow from which he 
never fully recovered. 

The man's modest and unassuming nature is well illustrated 
in his expressed wish that there be no public demonstration at 
his funeral. President Seelye stated yesterday that the Smith 
College faculty and students wished to attend. The Grand 
Army Post, and other organizations will express a similar wish, 
and, in deference to these requests, friends decided to hold the 
services in Cosmian Hall. The services will be held to-morrow 
afternoon at 2 o'clock. Rev. F. A. Hinckley, and Mrs. E. P. Bond, 
formerly resident speaker of the Free Congregational Society, 
will officiate. Wm. L. Baker Post, and the Lilly Drum Corps 
will be present, and do escort duty. The 31st Regiment, of 
which Mr. Lilly was an honorary member, will attend the 
funeral in a body, meeting at the City Hall in Northampton, to- 
morrow noon for the purpose. 



The Freethinker's Magazine for March, 1S90, published en- 
tire the obituary notice of the Northampton Herald, and added 
with a portrait, the following : 

. It is with sadness and sorrow that we learn of the death of 
A. T. Lilly. He was one of the bravest and noblest and most 



6o ■ ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

generous Freethinkers in this country. He was a very quiet, 
unostentatious man, who never made a great exhibition of his 
Liberalism nor his liberality. His generous gifts were large and 
many, and were always made with as little publicity as possible 
— the only object he seemed to have in making them was to ac- 
complish all the good he could. He contributed much more for 
this Magazine than has any other person, and wdienever he sent 
us aid, he always made a special recjuest that we make no public 
mention of it. We are sure that without his liberal contribu- 
tions, made without solicitation, this Magazine would now be a 
thing of the past. 



The Boston Investigator, in its issue of January 29, 1890, 
published entire the obituary notice from the Northampton 
Herald, and added the following : 

The w^orld has lost a brave, true, generous-hearted man in 
the death of Mr. Lilly. He was among the most advanced Lib- 
erals of the day. * * * ^ warmer heart 
for humanity and human suffering, never beat in human breast. 
He loved the truth as ardently as he detested falsehood. His 
hand was stretched to the world in help. He made money, and 
he used it to make the world better. He was modest, sincere, 
and upright. He lived a long and useful life, and over his grave 
will be shed many a tear. We knew his worth, and we feel his 
loss. Farewell ! 



Copy of a Letter from Theodore D. Weld. 

Hyde Park, January 24, 1890. 
Dk.4R Mr. Hunt : — The paper sent by you announcing the 
death of our beloved brother Lilly, reached me all too late, even 
for a telegram to his funeral. His venerated form had been 
already lovingly consigned "dust to dust." "Howl! Fir trees 
for the Cedar has fallen." " The memory of the just smells 
sweet, and blossoms in the dust." 



OBITLARV NOTICES. 6i 

During my long life, I liave known a few, (alas I how few)! 
whose character seemed perfect. They had embodied " the law 
of love," "the golden rule," and "the sermon on the mount." 
Of that sacred few was Alfred T. Lilly. 

Verily he had always been "eyes to the blind, feet for the 
lame, a tongue for the dumb." He always wrought with might 
and main, as tireless, as ceaseless, with brain, heart and hand ; 
thinking, feeling, willing, doing and giving to, and for others. 
His life was his creed, writ large and cross-lined all over, and 
thus was known and read by all. His name is his monument. 
His memory a precious boon, fervently cherished. He lived 
only to serve the needs of others, to ease their pains and soothe 
their sorrows, in tender sympathy with the sufferings of all. 

How happy the lot of your Cosmian Community, man, 
woman and child, in having had so long in your midst, such a 
presence wending on in the quiet, even tenor of his wav, in and 
out, up and down in every thing, with every one at home, and 
every one at home with him ; shedding sunshine all around, and 
finding it all around t)n its way back to him, till from all to all, 
light shone, and thus all caught the glow and flaslied it abroad. 

Such a spirit, example and life as his, made the dark light, 
the rough smooth, the crooked straight, and could not fail to- 
leave their strong impress upon those in such close contact with 
him. Just such a lasting impress marked that signal life, — was 
born in it, and thus birthmarked its whole career. Incessantly 
thinking, planning, willing and striving to quicken, help and 
bless all by every practicable form of good doing, always intent 
upon such works, ways and modes of action upon all from the 
least to the largest objects, subjects and causes, they all grew 
into him, and he into them, as fractions become one in the unit.. 
In them he lived, moved and had his being. They not only be- 
came his life vocation, but the ruling passion of his soul, grow- 
ing stronger and sublimer up to his last hour of earth. Yea, 
more, — when that last hour came, it found him just as intense as. 
when in the height of his manly prime. 



62 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

Then thus his life's hour-glass dropped its last sands ; the 
last pulse throbbed, the last gleam fled from the glazing e^^e, the 
latest breath fell cold from his pallid lips, and all that was mor- 
tal has ceased to be. 

Now look at that stark dead form as it lies along and tell 
me, is that clod of clay our brother Lilly ? The v^ery being whom 
we loved ? Love still and venerate ? Is it indeed he, whose 
spirit, character, qualities and principles of mind and soul, have 
so long drawn us to him by irrepressible affinities ? Nay, verily 
— never ! That head and brain, that eye and heart, those lungs, 
limbs, muscles and nerves are all that body's parts, members 
and organs, internal and external, with their flesh, bones and 
blood ; is any one of these, or all of them together, our brother 
Lilly's very self ? They are but the house he lived in, with its 
furniture, they were the clothes he wore, the tools he used, they 
were to him what the shell is to the kernel, the husk to the ear, 
the pearl oyster to the priceless pearl its rough shell encloses. 
True they were always his, but never him. 

All of him that our bodily senses revealed to us we knew by 
these senses, but what could they give us of his real intrinsic self ? 
His absolute, ultimate being ? The primal source and starting 
point of them all ? 

But this letter has already spun itself out all too far. 
Greatly regretting that the knowledge of our brother's death 
did not reach me till too late for me to be present at his funeral, 
I ask you to convey to our Cosmian friends, my profound sym- 
pathy in this great bereavement. 

I am, my dear brother, in the old time love to you and all 
yours, 

Faithfully, 

THEO. D. WELD. 



OBITUARY NOTICES. 63 

Annual Report of the Executive Committee of the Free 

Congregational Society of Florence, for the Year 

ENDING April 7, 1890. 

On the 2ist day of January last, after many months of try- 
ing invalidism, patiently and bravely borne, the great heart of 
Alfred T. Lilly ceased to beat. He was a strong and enthusias- 
tic friend and helper of the Free Congregational Society of 
Florence. Ft)r more than a quarter of a century this Society 
had the benefits of Mr. Lilly's wise counsels and untiring efforts 
to uphold its existence, and promote its prosperity. lie executed 
with integrity and success the various important offices with 
which the Society had always gladly intrusted him. 

Mr. Samuel L. Hill and Mr. Lilly, though differing from 
each other in theological views, were the largest contributors in 
aid of the founding and maintenance of this Society ; though 
neither of them favored the organization for any selfish purpose. 
It was the great principle of equity on which the platform was 
grounded, that won their admiration and support. 

And yet we find that the motives of these noble men have 
been so misconstrued, — certainly, misrepresented, — that to each 
has been attributed the preposterous remark that he paid $30,- 
000 to stand on Cosmian Hall platform and declare, "There is 
no God." We are informed that Mr. Lilly, to whom this saying 
was first imputed, was by persons now living, twice heard to 
denv, publicly, in the Sunday School, that he ever uttered such 
a remark. So far from wishing to stand on the Cosmian plat- 
form to defend their own personal views, they supported it be- 
cause every honest belief could there be defended and be sure of 
fair play. Probably the one feature of the platform that above 
all others, had the regard of these two men, was the one that 
placed human rights above the accident of sex, or color, or na- 
tionality. They rejoiced that there was one pulpit whose occu- 
pants could preach deliverance to the captive, and the opening 
of the prison to them that are bound ; for these men had seen 
the Church pulpits barred against the advocacy of humanitarian 
reforms ; particularly, the anti-slavery reform. 



64 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

With the appr(.ival of both of these good men, Charles C. 
Burleigh, a firm believer in God, was chosen the first resident 
speaker of the Society, and held the office for ten years ; while he 
continued a member of the Society until his death. 

Your committee and other members of this Society had fre- 
quent occasions to note the honorable way in which i\Ir. Lilly 
bore himself, regarding the presentation of his own peculiar 
views. He was always ready to stand aside to give to the advo- 
cates of different sentiments from his own, the preference on the 
platform. 

As one instance illustrating this honorable trait of his char- 
acter, we learn that when arranging for the disposition of his 
private or home library, he directed that only those books that 
the Trustees of the Library Association desired, should go into 
the Public Library. 

Mr. Lilly's views, were, in various respects, misunderstood. 
For instance, he did not deny the d(')ctrine of immortality, but 
he had not received evidence sufficient to convince him of its 
truth. He believed in the immutability of law ; sought the 
truth in nature, and aimed to put himself in line with the work- 
ings of natural law. While Mr. Lilly was a doubter, we believe 
that often, through doubt, lies the pathway to truth, and that 
there is wisdom in the poet Tennyson's words, where he says : 
" Therj lives more faith in honest doubt, 
Believe me, than in half the creeds." 

Even the general tenor of the New Testament, is more in 
condemnation of an infidelity or unfaithfulness to known duty 
than of honest error in speculative belief. We have been told 
that Jesus held up as an examplar of his religion, the Good Sa- 
maritan, who was the infidel, if not the atheist of his day, with 
whom the Jews would have no dealings. It was against those 
who professed to know God, but in their works denied him, that 
the sternest rebukes of the New Testament were uttered. 

We see that so great was Mr. Lilly's interest in this Society, 
that even death could not separate him from its regard ; for, in 
his will, he directs his Trustees' to pay to the Free Congrega- 



OBITUARY NOTICES. 65 

tional Society of Florence, $1000 a year, so long as said Society 
shall keep alive the work of the Sunday School and platform- 
speaking on the same liberal basis as has been practiced by it since 
the organization of the Society to the present time. This gen- 
erous bequest of their lamented friend should encourage the liv- 
ing members of the Society to give even more liberally than 
heretofore, according to their means, to aid the noble cause in 
which they are engaged. 



MEMORIAL DAY AT COSMIAN HALL. 

The Sunday following the funeral, January 26th, was made 
a Mc'mot-i;il D;i\- by the Free Congregational Society. 

SUNDAY SCHOOL SERVICE. 

The Sunday School met as usual at 10.30 A. M. A, life-like 
picture of Mr. Lilly, decorated with smilax, and surrounded by 
flowers, stood upon the platform. The exercises were partici- 
pated in by Messrs. Seth Hunt, Joseph Marsh, A. G. Hill, Miss 
Mary W. Bond, Miss E. C. Elder, Mrs. M. B. Cary and Mr. 
Hinckley. The different speakers bore testimony to the warmth 
of Mr. Lilly's well known affection for the School and its work, 
and to the generous aid he was always ready to render it. His 
interest in young men, and in little children was tenderly recalled, 
and selections and songs which had been favorites of his were 
sung. 

At the regular afternoon service, Mr. Hinckley delivered the 
following 

MEMORIAL DISCOURSE. 

The last sad rites have been performed, the public word has 
been spoken, the tribute of the people without regard to sect, 
party or locality, has been paid. We gather to-day, a smaller 
and closer company, following with gentle thoughts our revered 
fellow-Cosmian, who has passed from mortal vision into the si- 
lent land. For nearly thirty-seven years his feet have trod these 
streets, his form has been a familiar one in tliis community, his 
energies and ambitions have been an integral part of its life. 
Even since his vears of sickness we have felt that he was still 



66 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

with us, thinking about us, planning in his hours of weakness 
and loneliness new measures for the good of the little spot on 
earth, which he loved so well, and had so long made his home. 
But to-day is the first Sunday when we must feel that his place 
here, so far as his bodily presence is concerned, is forever vacant. 
To-day is the first Sunday when it would be in vain to long 

" For the touch of the vanished hand, 
And the sound of the voice that is still." 

We shall never grasp the one, we shall never hear the other 
within these walls again. 

Fresh from his new-made grave, we come now with loving 
hearts to contemplate his life and character. Not this the place 
for cold analysis, not mine the lips for critical review. There 
was somewhat about this man so brave, so true, so kind, that we 
who knew him best, naturally wish to dwell upon his memory, 
and recount his virtues in a spirit as brave, as true, as kindly as 
his own. What was it that brought to him, who began his ca- 
reer with nothing save indomitable energy, and devotion to un- 
popular causes, in whose service he never flinched to the hour of 
his death, — what was it that brought to him at last the tribute of 
well-nigh universal respect and affection ? What was it about 
him, man of strong convictions that he was, that has made those 
who differed most widely from him in matters of belief, eager to 
affirm that he has left the world better for his living in it ? In 
trying to answer these questions, it is at once my sacred privilege 
and duty to paint as best I may to-day the picture of our friend's 
career. The coloring may seem warm, but I shall endeavor to 
keep it true. 

Alfred Theodore Lilly was a man of business ; he gave him- 
self to business with that sort of devotion which means success ; 
and yet as I contemplate his finished earth-life, it seems to me it 
can be said of him, as of very few men of affairs, that he had a 
life-work outside of his business. Whether in his father's auger 
factory in Mansfield, the grocery trade in Providence, or the silk 
industry in Florence, he exhibited those elements of character 
which command the financial situation. His record is one of 



OBITUARY NOTICES. 67 

perseverance, foresight and economy, beginning at the foot of 
the ladder, and mounting slowly, but surely, round by round, to 
the top. He was a thoroughly successful business man. But 
nevertheless, he was not a mere money-getter ; with him, money- 
getting was a means rather than an end. Business success was 
his opportunity, and he knew well how to improve it ; from first 
to last he did improve it. And yet there are many men who 
have just such opportunities and fail to improve them. What 
made his an exceptional case ? Plainly the elements wliich were 
native to his character, and the circumstances which surrounded 
him. What were these elements ? What were these circum- 
stances ? 

First of all let us say, he was a man of marked mental in- 
tegrity. As a boy, as a young man, in the maturity and in the 
decline of his powers, his was a clear head. Passing at once 
from the not elaborate common school education of sixty years 
ago, to the ever-increasing activities of a prosperous Ijusiness 
career, he had little time or energy to give to general reading. 
But as is so often the case with self-made men, his keen percep- 
tions, sharpened by the necessity of dealing with affairs, stood 
him well in stead. He comprehended the bearings of argument; 
as we sometimes say, he took in the situation, quickly and accu- 
rately. He may have seemed harsh in his judgments at times, 
but he was rarely the victim of sophistry. His life furnishes 
many illustrations of this clearness of mental discernment, of 
which none is more significant than one which may be taken 
from his youthful experience. He was only twenty-two years of 
age when his father failed, owing him quite a sum for labor. By 
that failure, the support of the family devolved upon hini. " I 
will make you a preferred creditor," said his father. He thought 
over the proposition, analyzed it in his mind, and with the new 
and heavy responsibility staring him in the face, gave the Spar- 
tan reply, "No, I will take my equal chance with the rest." He 
did take his chance with the rest. He did assume the new re- 
sponsibility. He did ultimately pay the last of his father's 
debts. Many there are who under similar circumstances would 



68 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

have found some specious course of reasoning to have justified 
a more selfish conchision. Not so he. He meant to be perfectly 
honest, and he possessed even then that exceptional intellectual 
acuteness which showed him where the border lines of honesty 
lay. It was the same quality which in after years made him so 
sensitive to every encroachment, whether in business, in reform, 
or in religion, upon mental integrity ; made him under all cir- 
cumstances, sincere with others, and sincere with himself. 

But closely interwoven with keen mental perception there 
went in him strong mental purpose. It is one thing to see duty, 
it is another thing to do it. In him the mental and the moral 
elements seemed inseparable. So closely and generall}^ the deed 
followed upon the thought, the life upon the theory. How often 
we have all seen him stirred with deepest indignation at the 
sense of some injustice to himself or to others. He was pardon- 
ably proud of his own moral integrity, and of the moral integ- 
rity of the little company of unpopular thinkers, with whom he 
did pioneer work. Many a time within the last dozen years, he 
has pointed me to some, young man, saying, " That is one of our 
boys, he is honest and clean ; there is nothing to be ashamed of 
in him." Many a time when some radical writer, in a larger 
recognition than his, of what we call the spiritual side, has cast, 
advertently or inadvertently, a seeming reflection upon such as 
he, I have heard him resent the injustice in such a wa}' that no 
one who knew him could withstand. Mentally clear, morally 
strong, he certainly was. 

There was, however, another element in his character, which 
we all knew, and knew well. He had the warmest of hearts. 
This was constantly illustrated in his depth of affection for the 
children. I have never heard him express more regret at any- 
thing, than that in these later years when Christmas time came 
round, he could not mingle with them in their festivities. It was 
the same element which made it so easy for him to help others,, 
ere he had scarcely begun to help himself ; to fight other 
people's battles while he fought his own. He delighted espec- 
ially to be the uncompromising exponent of mental freedom. 



OBITUAR'- Nv^.-i-.r^^- (,^ 

but standing in this place, I can never forget how often I have 
seen his eyes moistened by some appeal to the feelings, how sus- 
ceptible he was to that touch of sentiment, which, if free from 
labels, and free from the narrowness which labels so often indi- 
cate, always goes straight to the very depths oi a sensitive 
nature. 

Such were the formative elements in this man's character 
and life : — a clear head, a strong moral purpose, a warm heart. 
Add now to all this, the circumstances of early and constant 
struggle, such as clarified his thoughts, intensified his moral con- 
victions, and warmed to a deeper glow his feelings, and we have 
the primal causes which made him what he was. It is said that 
he never forgot a favor, and it always seemed when he was asked 
for help, as if the first thought which came to his mind, was of 
how he once needed and received help too. It was an unfailing 
source of pleasure to him to dwell upon the life of Voltaire — his 
persecutions, his struggles, his assistance from influential friends, 
and the way in which in his old age, he also rendered assistance 
to those who needed it. He saw likenesses between these ex- 
periences of the illustrious Frenchman and his own, and he liked 
to dwell upon them, and to talk of them. 

So it was that native traits and worldly conditions conspired 
to make him a man sure to want to put some of the wealth that 
came to him, to high and noble uses. Inheritance and environ- 
ment united to make him business man and philanthropist in 
one. 

And now, what was this man's life work? Stated in one 
comprehensive phrase, I should say, devotion to truth and en- 
thusiasm for humanity. Under this head, we may easily group 
the various causes which it was his constant happiness to serve. 

First of these in order of time, I think, certainly first in his 
own estimation, was Free Thought ; and for him, as for so many 
others, this was at first inseparably connected with the anti- 
slavery conflict. 

It is exceedingly difficult for the younger of us, now to reab 
ize the ecclesiastical conditions which he, and such as he, met all 



70 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

about them. They found the Church possessing a power over 
the minds of men, such as nobody dreams of its possessing to- 
day. Little was known of the nature of the non-Christian 
world, and it was held that only those, who, having heard of 
Christ, had professed belief in Him, could escape the fires of 
hell. They found the Christian Bible taken as the exclusive me- 
dium of God's message to humanity, equally inspired in all its 
parts, and therefore an infallible guide. They found church 
forms and ceremonies based on what they conceived to be super- 
stition. They found the old dogmas of the fall of man, total 
depravity, and everlasting punishment, almost unquestioned, in 
what was regarded respectable society. They found institu- 
tional religion neglecting the things it had seen, in looking after 
the things it had not seen, and in the nature of the case, could not 
see. They found craven silence in the pulpit concerning right- 
eous principles. And worst of all, when some one thinking out- 
side the lines, ventured to speak for the chattel slave, ventured 
to speak for the inalienable right of every man to obey the dic- 
tates of his own conscience, and to respect the workings of his 
own mind, they found narrowness and bigotry lighting the torch 
of persecution, and branding such, as Atheists, and infidels, and' 
fellows of the baser sort. What could they do, practical men 
that they were, abolitionists that they were ? Just what they did 
do. They proceeded to think for themselves, and resolved, at 
whatever cost, to speak just what they thought. Their motto 
was as old as Milton, their spirit as lofty as his who lost his eyes 
in defense of freedom. 

" Give me the liberty to know, to think, to believe, and to 
utter freely, according to conscience, above all other liberties." 
This was the immortal principle in whose service they did as 
brave and as unpopular work as was ever done. They began by 
antagonizing the Church, and defying its authority. Against its 
doctrine of heaven for professing Christians, they affirmed the 
rights of all men here and now. Against Biblical infallibility, 
they affirmed the supremacy of reason. Against forms and cer- 
emonies, they affirmed as the real test, the good life. They said 



OBITUARY NOTICES. 71 

we know nothing about what we cannot submit to intellectual 
proofs. We know this is a universe of law, cause preceding ef- 
fect, effect following cause ; we know, therefore, that the higher 
duty of man is to study the laws of the universe, and conform 
himself thereto. Beyond this, all is speculation ; we will have 
none of it. To hold such views as these, for many years after 
Alfred Theodore Lilly first held them, meant banishment from 
what we all naturally crave, the fellowship of mankind. Public 
opinion could only see the iconoclast destroying the temple and 
its gods. It was not prepared to see the love of outward nature, 
the respect for moral order, the enthusiasm for humanity, which 
was already rising upon the ruins of the old, a more than worthy 
substitute for what was lost. "Above all things, truth beareth 
away the victory," — that was the central point of the unwritten 
life-creed in these early pioneers of free thought and free men. 
There was never a time in the life of our honored friend, from 
his earlv manhood, through the maturity of his powers, to the 
very moment of his death, when it was not the central point of 
his unwritten life-creed. Not truth according to some sect or 
system, but truth absolute and impartial, as superior to all sects 
and all systems. Time has gone on, and thanks to the mighty 
movement in behalf of freedom thus early begun, all the old 
sects have been liberalized. Catholic and Protestant, evangeli- 
cal and liberal, conservative and radical, can and do to-day meet 
each other in the mutual respect of sincere manhood and woman- 
hood ; meet not to talk about Heaven there, but about how to 
make Heaven here. Not yet, however, is the slavery to form 
and creed entirely abolished ; not yet has the time come when in 
Mr. Lilly's view the struggle for entire freedom can be sus- 
pended. Perhaps he did not realize fully how far the process of 
liberalization had gone, though I have very vivid impressions of 
his talks with me about Robert Elsmere, and the enthusiasm 
with which he regarded Mrs. Ward's book as a sign of the gen- 
eral recognition of the principle which had been dearer to him 
than all others, and for which, if necessary, he would, at any 
time, have laid down his life. We may well pardon the old war- 



72 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

horse, if after the smoke of battle clears away, he still seems to 
scent the conflict from afar. I never knew a man who would be 
more scrupulously particular than he on this point, or who with 
head erect, and keen eye, and heart on fire, could say more sin- 
cerely, in the words of Charles Sumner, " I feel that I cannot go 
wrong, when I lean to the side of liberty." The older of you re- 
member how when this Society was organized, he declined at 
first to take part in the preliminary work, because he did not be- 
lieve it possible that any company of people could live up to the 
standard of perfect freedom. He has often told me the story of 
how he had t(j be persuaded to 'join in the movement, how he al- 
ways insisted upon his right to rise at any time in the meetings, 
and present his view after the speaker for the day had finished, 
and how, though finding himself often in the minority, the Soci- 
ety had alwa3's kept faith with him, always protected him in the 
freest utterances of his thoughts. And it must be said in sim- 
ple justice to liim, that if sometimes there seemed to be a shade 
of intolerance in his manner, there was never an}^ intolerance in 
his heart. He spoke earnestly, incisively ; he wanted others to 
do the same, but lie yielded gracefully and sweetly where con- 
science was not concerned. Freedom and respectful toleration 
for all — that was his ideal. It was because to him this move- 
ment embodied that ideal, that he early came to have such ad- 
miration for its spirit, such faith in its work ; that he contributed 
so freely in life and in death to its support, and put so handsome 
a sum of money into this Hall. For whatever of good this 
building has stood, or may yet stand, grateful thanks are due 
first of all to Samuel L. Hill and Alfred Theodore Lilly. Co- 
workers in life, the latter now passes on in the footsteps of the 
former, to join the company of the benefactors of their race ; 
the liberty for which he stood, left to us unimpaired. Ah ! dear 
friend, you and I did not always agree, some words which you 
did not like are very precious to me ; but I am so glad you died 
in the faith in which you lived ; that it was not any concession 
in belief, but thy devotion to truth, and thy grand spirit of hu- 
manity, which made this city "one in respectful sorrow above thy 



OBITUARY NOTICES. 73 

grave. Because you never wavered, the atmosphere all about us 
is fuller of the sentiment to-day, than it otherwise would have 
been : — No matter what one believes, all matter what one is ; no 
matter how one fails to meet our sectarian and party measure- 
ments, so he be true to himself, and true to his own ideals, " A 
man's a man for a' that." We could not spare, dear friend, one 
particle from thy thought and life which goes to emphasize that 
supreme lesson. 

Naturally Mr. Lilly was the friend of education. His ser- 
vice of this cause, constitutes one of the most beautiful features 
of his career. Under the old district school system, he was a 
member of the prudential committee, and was always something 
more than a mere functionary in that capacity. He put his per- 
sonality into his work, as every conscientious public servant is 
bound to do. He established sj'mpathetic relations with the 
teachers. He advised with individual pupils who needed 
special assistance. Later on, he was one of those who gave 
freely of energy, time and means, for the establishment of an 
evening school for those employed in the mill. With the aboli- 
tion of the district system, his official connection with the schools 
ceased, but as a private citizen he made himself more or less ac- 
quainted with them, and kept up an active interest in their work. 
His early and constant interest in the Kindergarten showed 
plainly that his mind was open to new methods in education, as 
in other things, and that he meant to throw his influence here as 
elsewhere, on the side of progress. One of my earliest recol- 
lections of Florence, is of the enthusiasm with which he talked 
to me of this Institution, and the noble work being done there- 
in. Regarding the Kindergarten not only as a good thing in it- 
self, but as the foundation upon which our whole system of pub- 
lic instruction is sooner or later to be built, it is certainly no 
small thing in the life of an active business man, to have been so 
intimately, in official and unofficial ways, its appreciative friend. 
He was for a long time a member of the Public Library commit- 
tee, and an efticient helper in the erection of the Public Library 
building. In due time he made an effort to have the town build 



74 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

a suitable branch Library at Florence, but failed ; and, as I 
hardly need say, the attractive Library building soon to be ded- 
icated, and to bear through all coming years his name, was his 
personal effort to meet the local need. For the present the most 
widely known of his public gifts for educational purposes, and 
in some respects the most significant, is the Lilly Hall of Science 
at Smith College. When the proposition for that presented it- 
self, it had at once, for him, two favorable aspects. It was an 
opportunity to help the natural sciences, which was, to him, by 
far the most valuable phase of all education. It was, further- 
more, an opportunity to help young women to an education in 
these sciences, a cause in which he heartil}'' believed. But there 
was one consideration, which would have been insurmountable 
to some men, which once probably, would have been insurmount- 
able to him. The College was under the management and influ- 
ence of one phase of that very religion to which he had been so 
antagonistic. I listened with warm enthusiasm when he told me 
of his plans before they had taken visible shape. I think of the 
whole transaction now with enthusiasm, as especially honorable 
to all the parties concerned. I can but feel that the building is 
a monument to the spirit of universal religion, in its peaceful 
and beautiful conquest of sectarian religion on the one side, and 
of antagonism to what was supposed to be all religion on the 
other. I cannot but think of it now with enthusiasm, as a com- 
mon meeting ground, on which widely differing mental philoso- 
phies have joined hands in the spirit of brotherhood to promote 
the study of Truth as it is in Nature. It is fitting that the 
last word, made known only since the death of the author of all 
these benefactions, should be one of emphasis upon the cause of 
education, and of promise of further assistance to its advance- 
ment among men. 

But this man was not confined in his interests to the realm 
of theology, or to that which we technically call the realm of ed- 
ucation. He was a thoroughly good and patriotic citizen. He 
was not a stay-at-home man in politics, he understood too well 
the relation between the individual and his government, not to 



OBITUARY NOTICES. 75 

discharge his entire dut}' on all occasions. Some of you can re- 
call his activity in the old town meetings. Some of you remem- 
ber how at the breaking out of the war of the rebellion in 1S61. 
when the question of raising money to promote the enlistment 
and equipment of troops came, he stepped forward, giving lib- 
erally of^his means, and offering, if necessary, to sacrifice all his 
possessions. Some of you will remember how intensely enthu- 
siastic he was in every movement looking tu tlie vigorous sub- 
jection of the rebellion, and the entire abolition of chattel slav- 
ery. Those''!were heroic days, and his was the heroic spirit. He 
never forgot the one, he never lost the other. We all know how 
the Grand Army always stirred his enthusiasm ; we all know 
how he opened his pocket for its benefit, how he risked his life a 
year ago, to^witness one of its parades, how the drum and the 
fife always had for him stirring associations of loyalty. Whether 
in war or in peace, beseemed to have his eye open, to be lookino- 
for the things needing to be done. To advance the upright, and 
to set aside the crooked, was always his animating impulse, as 
one of the body politic. He was the citizen of clean and sober 
habits ; the citizen who wanted safe streets and wholesome 
amusements for the young and the weak ; the citizen who alwavs 
had town or municipal improvement of some sort in mind. He 
belonged to that company whose character gives a pure atmos- 
phere to the community, and stability to the state. 

Something ought to be said of his private benefactions, as 
neighbor and friend. It is difficult, however, to speak of them, 
because they were always so quietly and secretly tendered. I 
doubt not, that within the sound of my voice, are many who, if 
lips should speak the feelings of the heart, could tell that which 
would make a wondrous story of practical, '^unostentatious as- 
sistance, such as has helped over many rough7places. Counsel 
always ready, and always wise ; the bank account easily accessi- 
ble, sometimes for the drawing of small, sometimes for the draw- 
ing of large sums, — how quickly this would be demonstrated, 
could we take the silent testimony of the multitude of such re- 
cipients. Men of wealth are not in the habit of yielding other- 



76 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

wise than reluctantly, to calls for financial aid. I imagine an 
applicant whom he deemed worthy, never found a man more 
easily approachable than he. In a world where perhaps there is 
more of caution, than of sympathy in such things, I can but 
think it a very touching tribute to his memory, that while his 
name is borne aloft on blocks of stone for all to read, and his 
portrait shall adorn public walls for all to see, the requiem of his 
goodness is sung in so many private hearts of all classes and 
conditions, whom he helped to make serene and happy. 

And so it is that our good friend, good saint we must call 
him now, beginning with nothing but his own character, and 
planting that in the face of public opinion, has at last, uncon- 
sciously to himself conquered the hearts of all. Henceforth as 
our children walk these streets, as new students, year after year, 
come to yonder College, they shall be reminded of the man who 
has been this way. Henceforth, when some of us, who knew 
him best, have some unpopular duty to discharge, we shall re- 
call his noble fidelity. Champion of the slave, champion of tem- 
perance, champion of woman, champion of free thought, educa- 
tion, universal good will ; the ear that heard him shall bless him; 
the eye that saw him shall give witness to him ; the blessing of 
him that was in trouble, shall be his eternal, great reward. And 
we, we who for so many years shared with him a close and ten- 
der fellowship, we will ever keep his memory green. Farewell, 
revered brother, honored leader, noble man, we were, 

" One in our faith, and one in our longing 
To make the world within our reach, 
Somewhat the better for our living, 
And gladder for our human speech. 

To homely joys and loves and friendships, 

Thy genial nature fondly clung ; 
And so the shadow on the dial 

Run back and left thee always young. 

All hearts grew warmer in the presence 

Of one who, seeking not his own. 
Gave freely for the love of giving. 

Nor reaped for self the harvest sown. 



OBITUARY NOTICES. 77 

Thy greeting smile was pledge and prelude 

Of generous deeds and kindly words ; 
In ihy large heart were fair guest-chambers, 

Open to sunrise and the birds. 

O friend ! if thought and sense avail not 

To know thee henceforth as thou art, 
That all is well with thee forever. 

We trust the injiiincts of the heart." 



RESOLUTIONS. 



At the annual meeting of the stockholders of the Nonotuck 
Silk Co., held at their office in Florence, January 28th, 1S90, the 
following resolution was passed : — 

"Whereas, in the decease of Mr. A. T. Lilly, we have lost a 
valued friend and former associate, and the silk industry one of 
its pioneers. 

Resolved, That we place upon the records of this meeting 
an acknowledgment of his faithful service to this Company, and 
that we cherish his memory as that of one of Nature's truest 
noblemen." 



At the annual meeting of the Florence Savings Bank, held 
April 2d, 1S90, the following resolutions on the death of A. T. 
Lilly, were adopted : 

Whereas, by the death of A. T. Lilly, w'ho was President, 
and chairman of the finance committee, of the Florence Savings 
Bank, from its organization, April, 1873, until the time of his 
death, January 21st, 1890, this corporation has lost one of its 
most useful members, therefore, 

Resolved, That we, the corporators of said Bank, desire to 
express our appreciation of the services rendered this Institu- 
tion at the time of its organization, of his untiring efforts to 
promote its stability and healthful growth, giving freely his time 
and business ability, up to December 30th, 1889 ; and that we 
will honor and cherish his memory as a wise worker in our be- 
half, and a man of staunch integrity and fidelity in all positions 
of trust. 



78 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

The following resolutions were passed at the meeting of the 
Florence Furniture Company, held February 4th, 1890 : — 

Whereas, Mr. A. T. Lilly, a Director and President of this 
Company, from its organization, died on the 21st of January, 
1890, we, the stockholders of the Florence Furniture Company, 
at a meeting held this 4th day of February, 1890, remembering 
the active interest he always had in the management and success 
of this Company, his hearty readiness to assist by his experi- 
ence, counsel, the liberal use of his name, and financial aid free- 
ly extended to us, during the years of our business necessities; 
and that to him, more than to any other person, this Company is 
beholden for any measure of success which may have resulted from 
the establishment and prosecution of said enterprise; we recog- 
nize in his connection with us, a high expression of unselfish in- 
terest, of devotion of time and thought to doing for and with 
others, as opportunity occurred ; that we recall his honesty and 
integrity of purpose, his fidelity to principle, his untiring energy, 
and his steadfast friendship in difficulties, as qualities worthy our 
best efforts to imitate ; that we feel the loss of his personal 
presence : and as an expression of our appreciation of the mem- 
ory of his association with us, we authorize the entry of this 
statement on the records of this Company. 



At the regular meeting of Wm. L. Baker Post, G. A. R., the 
following resolutions on the death of A. T. Lilly, were unani- 
mously adopted : 

Whereas, by the decease of Alfred T. Lilly of Florence, a 
sense of bereavement has pervaded this community, and partic- 
ularly this Post, of which he was an honorary member, there- 
fore. 

Resolved, That we recognize in this event the loss of an hon- 
ored citizen ; a distinguished philanthropist ; a benefactor of 
mankind ; a patriot, loyal and true ; a lover of truth, honesty 
and virtue, and a doer of good works. 

Resolved, That this Post has found in him a warm friend of 
the soldier, who manifested his friendship not alone in words, 
but in substantial deeds. He was a noble type of New England 
manhood, whose warm sympathy we have felt, and whose pres- 
ence was an inspiration, and an uplifting force. We shall cher- 
ish his memory, and think of him, dead, as the man who, living, 



OBITUARY XOTICES. 79 

remembered the veteran soldiers of this Post, and cheered and 
warmed their hearts by his generous gifts, his patriotic words, 
and his noble example. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect for the mem- 
ory of the deceased, the vote on tlie adoption of these resolu- 
tions be taken by rising ; that they be entered upon the records 
of this Post, and a copy given to the press for publication. 



Resolutions by the Executive Committee for the Free Con- 
gregational Society : 

Whereas, our beloved and honored associate, Alfred Theo- 
dore Lilly, has passed from mortal vision to the unseen world, 
therefore. 

Resolved, That in his death the Free Congregational Soci- 
ety has lost one of its oldest and most faithful members, and 
the cause for which it stands a staunch and loyal friend. 

Resolved, That we gratefully recognize in this hour of part- 
ing, his brave maintenance of freedom of thought and speech ; 
his broad toleration of honest differences of opinion ; his excep- 
tional warmth of feeling ; and his large humanitarian spirit. 

Resolved, That while these characteristics were grandly 
shown to the general public by his interest in the public schools 
and the Public Library ; in the gift of the Lilly Hall of Science 
to Smith College ; in the founding of the Lilly Library Associa- 
tion in Florence ; in his labors as a Trustee of the Florence Kin- 
dergarten, and his endowment of that Institution ; they were as 
grandly shown to us, his immediate associates, by his generous 
contributions towards the erection of Cosmian Hall, by his an- 
nual subscriptions to this Society, by his labors for nearly twen- 
ty-seven years as chairman of the executive committee, and for 
twenty-six years as our Treasurer, and in his generous annuity to 
the Society by will. 

Resolved, That his interest in the Sunday School and the 
children was so earnest, and so tender, as to deserve special men- 
tion, and to inspire a special feeling of gratitude for his life. 

Resolved, That we think of him now, and shall ever think 
of him, as a shining example of manly integrity and independ- 
ence ; as one who always took "Truth for authority, not author- 
ity for Truth ; " and as one who has left his neighborhood, his 
city, and the world, better because of his brave and jihilanthropic 
life. 



8o ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

Resolutions passed by the Public Library Committee : 

Whereas, death has removed from us Alfred T. Lilly, who 
was appointed by the town in 1S69, a member of a committee of 
five, to take charge of the purchase of a lot, and the erection of 
a building, for a Public Library and Memorial Hall, and who was 
elected a member of the Public Library Committee in 1874, his 
surviving associates desire to express and record their apprecia- 
tion of his services relating to said Building and Library, there- 
f<M'e, 

Resolved, That the services of Mr. Lilly, as a member of the 
Committee appointed to purchase a lot, and erect a suitable 
building thereon, were of great value to the people of this com- 
munity ; for five years the thoughts of this Committee were 
turned upon the waA'S and means of erecting a suitable building, 
Avhere their fellow-townsmen of all ages and conditions, without 
distinction of race and religion, may resort for self-education, 
and find there, in every instructive form, the literature of their 
choice ; by their effort a building was secured which is admira- 
bly adapted for the purposes of a Public Library and Reading 
Room. 

Resolved, That through a service of sixteen years on the 
Public Library Committee, Mr. Lilly has not only shown him- 
self deeply interested in the Institution, but his large business 
experience, and his readiness to give time and attention to the 
work of this Committee, have made his service exceedingly 
valuable. 

Resolved, That the interest he manifested in the Branch of 
the Public Library at Florence, and the personal attention which 
he gave to its management, as chairman of the committee of the 
Florence Branch, were of great value to the people of that vil- 
lage, and did much to increase the use of our Library there ; the 
change from the limited quarters in 1SS3, to the rooms on Maple 
Street was largely due to his exertions, and the use of the Li- 
brary was nearly double immediately ; in 1882 the number of 
books drawn from this Branch was 3,673, and in 1889 the num- 
ber drawn was 12,815 ! ^^^ number of visits to the Reading 



OBITUARY NOTICES. 8i 

Room at Florence in 1S82 was 5,737, and in 18S9 the number of 
visits increased to 7,662 ; his interest in this Branch, led him to 
provide a suitable building designed expressly for a Free Public 
Library and Reading Room in that village. 

Resolved, That the active interest which he took in the Mu- 
seum connected with the Library, led to a supply of suitable 
cases for it, and his endeavors to interest others in this work for 
the purpose of securing a collection of articles illustrating the 
early history of this locality, will always be gratefully remem- 
bered, and it is hoped will ultimately result in a valuable col- 
lection from a locality rich in material suitable for this purpose. 



Resolutions passed by the Lilly Library Association : 

Whereas, On the 21st day of January, 1890, death removed 
from us Alfred Theodore Lilly, who selected us, and at whose 
request we associated ourselves as a corporation under the laws 
of the Commonwealth, to assist and enable him to provide a 
Free Public Library and Reading Room for the village of Flor- 
ence, we desire to place upon our records some recognition of 
his life and character, therefore, 

Resolved, That while we are grieved by his death, and in 
common with the entire community feel his loss as that of a per- 
sonal friend and benefactor, we are comforted by the recollection 
of his busy, useful life, his sincerity and truthfulness, his gener- 
osity and disinterested benevolence, and his love of humanity, 
as shown by his public and private acts, and particularly by his 
last public act, the foundation of a Free Public Library and 
Reading Room for the village of Florence, an Institution which 
will not only be a source of enjoyment to the people of this vil- 
lage forever, but will be an ever increasing means of usefulness 
for promoting "the well-being and elevation of humanity." 

Resolved, That we, appreciating the important trust he has 
committed to us, and the high ideal he had formed for this, his 
last great gift to Florence, will try faithfully to execute his 
known wishes for this creation of his mind and heart, and the 
proceeds of his labor, to the end that the Lilly Library may ac- 
complish its highest power for good in the development of 
youth, the enrichment of the mature man, and the comfort of 
old age. 



82 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

Resolution passed by the Trustees of the Florence Kinder- 
garten : 

Whereas, the death of our honored President, Alfred Theo- 
dore Lilly, has removed from our Board one of the Trustees 
selected by the founder of the Florence Kindergarten, to admin- 
ister the trust created by him, we would place upon our records 
some expression of our personal affection for him as a co-worker 
and friend, and our sense of the great loss sustained in his re- 
moval by death, therefore, 

Resolved, That by his death the Kindergarten has sustained 
an irreparable loss; that during the thirteen years we were asso- 
ciated with him in this work, he was always ready to cheerfully 
give his time and efforts in the administration of the trust con- 
ferred upon this corporation ; appreciating, and in close sympa- 
thy with, the aims of the founder of the Florence Kindergarten, 
he brought to bear upon the administration of the affairs of the 
Board of Trustees, his long and successful experience as a busi- 
ness man, combined with a practical view of the Kindergarten 
work, and a liberal spirit in promoting it ; clear and decisive in 
the expression of his own views of the work, he was always hos- 
pitable to the views of his fellow-workers, and loyal to the letter 
and spirit of the expressed wishes and instructions of the founder 
as to the policy to be pursued in the management of the Kin- 
dergarten ; that in giving by his will, all his estate remaining at 
his death, to this corporation, for the same purposes for which it 
was established, viz.: — "to promote the well-being and elevation 
of humanity," he has shown how much he was interested in the 
work for which he was associated with us, and his example shall 
always be an incentive to us to renewed energy and devotion to 
the work given us to perform. 



Dedication of the Lilly 
Library Building. 



r 



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a 

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• S 
5 
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Dedication of the Lilly 
Library Buildino;. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE LIBRARY BUILDIXG. 

The first story is of Monson granite, and the second of Phil- 
adelphia pressed brick, with handsome ornamental bands and 
granite trimmings. The roof is slated, with terra cotta ridges 
and finials. The whole structure, which on the ground is shaped 
somewhat after the cross pattern, is 50 by 63 feet. The Library^ 
Reading Rooms, Conference and Consultation Rooms, are on 
the second or main floor, which is reached by an eas)^ flight of 
granite steps. On the side of the arched porch, which has a tile 
floor, is a fine polished granite tablet, with the words "Lilly 
Library" cut upon it. Passing through a Yestibule, a pleasant 
hall, 12 by 32 feet, is reached, out of which branches the Library, 
21 by 28 feet, with ample room for 10,000 volumes, a Reading 
Room 14 by 14 feet, and a Consultation Room 10 by 14 feet, and 
so arranged that the Librarian can have complete oversight of 
the whole. This floor is finished in selected white ash with quar- 
tered yellow pine floors, except the Book Room, which is finished 
in western white wood. The lower floor is entered through a 
vestibule under the main porch, and contains a lecture and other 
rooms connected by large folding doors. There is also a large 
attic with plenty of room for storage purposes, while closets, 
wash-rooms, and other conveniences are properly located in the 
building. The structure is well lighted by large windows with 
stained glass transoms ; is heated by steam, and lighted by elec- 
tricity, with neat fixtures, while the furniture, oak tables, chairs 
and fixtures are of original designs, and were made to order. 



86 ALFRED THEODORE LILLV. 

IXTR(»DUCTORV ADDRESS BY WILLIAM H. RILEV. 

Ladies axd Gextlemex : — By request of the Lilly Library 
Association I have the honor to preside at this meeting. We ex- 
tend to you all a most cordial and hearty welcome. 

As a people, we have every reason to rejoice to-night that 
the time has come when we can dedicate and set apart for its 
own peculiar use the permanent home of our valuable village 
Librarv ; that we can enter in and take full possession of this 
symmetrical and substantial structure, so well adapted to the 
purposes for which it was designed. Our only regret is that 
the donor, whose generosity and wisdom made such a consum- 
mation possible, cannot be with us, in the body, to enjoy these 
felicitations. He saw the strong foundations laid, and witnessed 
the erection of those sturdy walls, while the last days of his use- 
ful life were brightened by the knowledge that this home for 
books was being moulded and wrought for the whole people, 
and for generations to come. Indeed, as we look upon the 
framed outlines of his benign and fatherly features, he seems to 
speak out his hearty approbation, as he approvingly says to us 
all, "Well done." 

This structure and its contents, will be the grandest of mon- 
uments to his memory. As a memorial of a good man's life it is 
our ambition that this Library may ever have an uplifting power 
to make men and women better ; to enrich their intellectual life, 
and stimulate them to seek and find the blessings of a higher 
education. 

Much will depend, however, upon the memorial's faithful 
use, to insure such an abiding success. The door to knowledge 
may be thrown wide open and you not enter ; the tree of wisdom 
be loaded with fruit and you not pluck it ; the road to prosperity 
be in sight and you not travel it. Improved facilities and en- 
larged opportunities for acquiring knowledge, increase our re- 
sponsibilities. It but remains for us, therefore, to develop the 
resources wdthin our reach. 

Northampton is wonderfully blessed with educational insti- 
tutions and literary repositories. With the present large Library 



DEDICATION OF LILLY LIIJRARV BUILDING. 87 

at the Center, — to the building of which, Mr. Lilly contributed 
so liberally, — the well-equipped Library dedicated to-night, and 
the prospective Forbes Library, there is not a city in this country, 
or perhaps in the world, of equal population, which can boast 
such an array of Libraries. 

The first speaker, who will tell us something of the growth 
of Libraries in this village, is too well known to need any intro- 
duction at my hand. His honored father will long be remem- 
bered as the great benefactor of this people. It gives me 
pleasure to make way for his honored son, Arthur G. Hill. 

ADDRESS OF .ARIHUK G. HILL. 

Mr. Presidext, Ladies axd Gextlemex : — It is a little diffi- 
cult for me to realize that my age entitles me to be classed 
among those who are expected at reasonable times and on suit- 
able occasions, to give reminiscences of what has occurred in 
the gone-by period. I would wish to be still considered as be- 
longing to this age, and as one of the factors in the problems of 
the day. I am by no means ready to be seated on the back row 
of seats with the honorable, respected and sometimes rever- 
enced veterans, known as the "oldest inhabitants," whose 
startling revelations of the past are so frequently injudiciously 
sprung upon an unsuspecting present. 

At this time when we are called together to accept, as a vil- 
lage, the thoughtful inspiration to noble character-building, 
which comes to us as the last thought for our welfare, from one 
whose life here was tilled with thoughts and deeds for us, it has 
been thought appropriate for me to turn back a few pages in the 
thin volume of my life's history, and to read to you what I can 
find therein that relates to what is now being written by the 
universal pen, for the succeeding pages. 

A well known, light-hearted writer has stated for a fact, 
that he came into this world when he was very young. Though 
that assertion may be combatted by some of the philosophers, I 
feel authorized to say that, from the best testimony that I can get, 
my first appearance here was at an early period of my life. 



88 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

My early glances at the surroundings did not present to me 
this village as it now is, or as it is now named. The beautiful 
Florence on the river Arno, Italy, had not then loaned us its 
name ; the hundreds of pleasant homes here, had no existence 
then, even in dreams, and but very few of those here this even- 
ino-, or who daily walk our streets, had any knowledge then that 
such a pretty spot was here located. Florence was then "War- 
ner School District," a little semi-independent grand duchy, 
holding its yearly meetings for the election of moderator, village 
clerk and school officers. 

The only streets here in my young boyhood days, were 
those now known as Main, Nonotuck, Pine, Park, Maple, 
Meadow, Chestnut, South, West and Spring, but much of our 
travelling was '' 'cross lots." I have seen each of the other 
streets staked off. laid out and built upon. Main Street had then 
but six houses, — no houses between this spot and the junction of 
roads where Mr. John F. Warner now lives, — Maple Street had 
four houses, Park Street had four. Pine Street two, Nonotuck 
Street four. Meadow Street three, and five houses on the other 
side of Mill River. 

Warner School District in its evolutionary existence has out- 
grown that name, and survived the periods when it was known 
as Bensonville and Greenville, and until on the map of the city 
of Northampton, it is comprised within the fifth, sixth and 
seventh wards. Fortunately for us, our post-office will keep alive 
the name of Florence, until the time of the great " Looking 
Backward " period, when our individuality is to be absorbed in 
the great culmination of the nationalist's prophecy. 

Now about Libraries. When the people were few, the 
books were few. This experience was the same with us as with 
other sparsely settled places. The old " Northampton Associa- 
tion for Education and Industry," familiarly known as the "Com- 
munity," had had a few books, and they were scattered about 
among the few houses, sometimes found in one place, and then 
in another. Though they have all long since passed out of my 



DEDICATION OF LILLY LIP.RARV RriLDIXG. .^'9 

circle, I occasionally got a glimpse of one and an'jther of them 
in the days of the happy past. 

A small Methodist society was early gathered together, and 
its weekly meetings were held in what was known as the South 
school house, which building served for school house, church 
and village hall, and in which all the public gatherings were then 
held. This little religious association was finally honored with 
a leader who came to us as an itinerant preacher. An interest- 
ing and enthusiastic Sunday school was organized, to which the 
village children went generally, irrespective of the various creed 
beliefs of the parents. A wealthy New York lady, temporarily 
stopping here for her health, presented to the School, in which 
she had become much interested, a Library of new books, to the 
number of about a hundred. This little Library was well cared 
for and well read. One of the principal events of each Sunda}' to 
us was the exchange of books. That Library meant a good deal 
to us, and though the stories and moral lessons were similar, 
that fact only served to make more plain to us the duty of being 
good, even if most of the good boys in the stories were called to 
a higher life before the wi)rkof manhood had commenced. One 
other of the Trustees of this Lilly Library besides myself, Mr. 
Haven, served as librarian of the early little Christian Library 
and I am confident that he will say with me, that it had a good 
influence over our early lives, and the lives of our then asso- 
ciates. 

In my father's book case, when I came to the early reading 
age, were a few books, most of them of a religious character, as 
his reading had been almost exclusively of that nature. These 
I soon got control of, and though many were too deep for me, I 
soon had an idea of their contents, and was permitted to use 
them as a nucleus for a Library. Bunyan's Holy War, and Bun- 
yan's Pilgrim Progress were the ones that attracted me most, 
and sometimes other boys were prevailed upon to read them. I 
can remember Baxter's Saint's Rest, — I never could read it, — 
Malcolm's Bible Dictionary, Fox's Book of Martyrs, another 
book about the earlv martvrs, Barber's Historical Collections of 



90 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

Connecticut, a valuable book to me, Universal Gazetteer, Jona- 
than Edwards' sermons, and perhaps twenty or thirty more. I 
had several books given me each year, so that I soon accumulated 
quite a collection, and thus had a small Library. I divided my 
books into three classes, and numbered and lettered them accord- 
ingly. Letter A, contained my school books and books of like 
nature ; B, was the religious and other books of solid reading,, 
while C, contained my stories and miscellaneous literature. I 
was allowed to loan them, and soon had a free circulating Li- 
brary to which all the boys of the village were allowed to come 
and get reading matter. My Library was well patronized, and 
I was as delighted as if I had drawn a prize in a lottery when I 
had a new patron. The books that were the most frecjuently 
called for, were the Rollo books, the Jonas series, the Franconia 
set, the Aimwell stories, the A. S. Roe novels, and two or three 
of the Capt. Marryatt novels, which appealed strongly to our 
boyish love for adventures. I have great pleasure in remember- 
ing those sunny days of boyhood, and rejoice to think that I 
thus early acquired the great love for books, which to-day I con- 
sider one of my redeeming characteristics. 

When the Free Congregational Society was formed in 1863,, 
the need of a village Library was immediately recognized, and 
contributions were taken among its members to procure books. 
This Library was sustained for many years, and thrown open 
to the free use of the people by that Society. Many present 
must remember the awkward location of the Library up a steep, 
narrow flight of stairs in the front room of the second story of 
the school house, and how the books were in great demand in 
the village. 

It has been many times demonstrated that if books are ac- 
cessible to the people, a great many of the people will read. All 
that is essential to do, is to turn the young readers in the right 
direction for reading, to have them receive the good of a Library. 
Much of the ill-directed youthful reading of to-day weakens us. 
At the time of the starting of the Free Congregational Library^ 
I was away at school and college, and had no use for my Libra- 



DEDICATION OF LILLY LIBRARY RriLDIXG. 



9' 



ry, and I presented it to form the l)eginninp; for the first really 
Public Library that the village has had. The needs of the vil- 
lage grew as the villagers became more numerous, and it became 
apparent that better Library facilities were necessary. The 
voters at the town meeting were appealed to, and a branch of 
the town Library was located here, the Free Congregational So- 
ciety presenting to the town all of its books that were thought 
desirable by the town committee. Books have from time to time 
been added by the town committee, and the reading facilities 
have been taken advantage of to a commendable extent, so that 
we have learned to recognize its great importance, and are keen- 
ly appreciative of this great gift that we publicly recognize this 
evening, as being an extension of the great advantages we have 
been privileged to enjoy. 

When Mr. Lilly had fully determined to erect a building for 
a Public Library, his health was too much impaired to permit 
him to attend personally to the execution of his plan. He se- 
lected from his acquaintances in the village, nine of those he be- 
lieved were interested in the enterprise, and desired them to as- 
sociate themselves together as a corporation under the laws of 
the Commonwealth to receive the title to the land which he con- 
veyed to them, and upon which the building was to be erected ; 
he placed in tlieir hands a sum of money sufficient to pay for the 
building, and an additional sum of $5000, to be expended for 
books. The persons he selected, without exception, cheerfully 
accepted the trust and at once entered upon its execution. 

Mr. Lilly did not live to see the building completed, or the 
receipt of the books selected, but he lived to see and know the 
plans proposed with reference to each, and of their completion 
to quite an extent, and to express himself as in every way 
pleased with all that was proposed and accomplished. The gift 
to the Lilly Library Association is without any other restriction 
or condition than that the Library and Reading Room shall not 
be discontinued, and shall be free ; upon the failure to comply 
with these conditions, the property is to go to the Trustees of 



92 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

the Florence Kindergarten, where it had been provided that the 
rest of his estate should be placed. 

It was from no suggestion of Mr. Lilly that the corporate 
name of the Library should include his name, or that the Libra- 
ry building should be called the Lilly Library. This determina- 
tion of the Association was communicated to him, and he per- 
mitted it to be done. Those whom he selected to execute his 
plan, feeling the necessity of selecting some name, considered 
that it was due to his memory that those who might receive the 
benefit of what he had provided, should be reminded of the 
person who placed such advantages within their reach. 

We are in many ways favored in this village, and much 
should be expected of us. Those who possess much should 
show corresponding results in well doing. If we merit our 
great benefactions we have much to do. 

At the close of Mr. Hill's address, Mr. Riley said : 
The gentleman who is to give the address of the evening, 
had not the honor of having been born in this village, but he 
did the best he could to repair the misfortune by coming here as 
soon as he attained his majority, and the village has ever been 
proud of him as an adopted son. About thirty years ago, by 
invitation of the late Samuel L. Hill, he came here to teach an 
evening school. From that time on, few men, if any, have done 
more by precept and example to educate the people, and mould 
the characters of our young men. He is a worthy illustration of 
what persistent application to study and diligent work will do ; 
a striking object lesson of a self-made man. I am sure you will 
all join me in according a hearty welcome to him who will de- 
liver the principal address of the evening, Daniel W. Bond. 

ADDRESS OF DANIEL W. BOND. 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : — The occasion 
which calls us together is one of more than ordinary interest to 
the people of our village ; the opening of a Public Library and 
Reading Room, in so pleasant and desirable a building as has 
just been completed here, is always an important event in any 



DEDICATION OF LILLY LIIJRARV UUILDIXG. 93 

community, Ijut the circumstances connected witli this occasion 
give it an unusual solemnity and interest. 

Our friend who caused this buildincr to be erected is dead ; 
wherever death occurs, or is remembered, there is solemnity ; 
nor can we wholly free ourselves even from mourning whenever 
a revered man has left us, however full his measure of a favored 
life may have been. This gift was one of Mr. Lilly's last public 
acts ; at the time he was arranging for its construction, he made 
his will, by which he gave all his estate remaining at his death 
for educational purposes. 

Under the circumstances, it is right that we should consider 
the motive which prompted the gift. Why did he apply himself 
so closely to business throughout his life, and at its close leave 
all he had accumulated for educational purposes ? 

The beneficial influence of a gift is often largely dependent 
upon the spirit with which it is given. As the years go by, a 
knowledge of the motive which prompted this gift will be an in- 
centive to the people of this community to seek its advantages ; 
so generous and unselfish an act will always be accepted and ap- 
preciated with a spirit of thankfulness and recognition shown by 
its use in the method desired by the giver. 

If Mr. Lilly had lived, he would have told us in his own 
way why he made this provision for the village in which he re- 
sided so long. This arrangement was made with him at a time 
when it was thought he might be present with us at its comple- 
tion, but the disease which was upon him, and which caused his 
death in January last, has deprived us of that statement, and we 
are left to discover his motive in what we know of his history. 

He lived here nearly forty years ; many of us knew him in- 
timately, and every one in the community has known something 
of his life. 

We judge a man by his acts, but his acts do not appear pre- 
cisely the same to each of his most intimate friends ; they see 
him under different circumstances. During a period of over 
thirty years, I saw Mr. Lilly in connection with his business ; a 
part of the time I was a member of his household ; our rela- 



94 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

tions were more than friendly ; from his own words I learned 
much of his life, his thoughts, his desires, and the motives which 
prompted his acts. I must speak of him, therefore, as I knew_ 
him, in my presentation of his motive for the act which we have 
assembled to commemorate. 

The main features of his life before he came to Florence 
have recently been called to your attention. His boyhood was 
spent in a locality where the educational advantages were not as 
good as most young men enjoy now. It was when books were 
not easily obtained, and the means of education were necessa- 
rily limited. Like many other 3^oung men in New England 
country towns, he had a desire for knowledge which could not 
be gratified by attendance at institutions of learning, or by an 
extensive use of books. This desire for knowledge, resulted in 
thought, reasoning, the formation and expression of ideas, and 
the interchange of views with his fellows. This practice had its 
advantages ; it developed in him a power of tliought, a clearness 
of vision and expression, and a reasoning power, which made 
him one of the best extemporaneous speakers I have ever heard 
among unprofessional speakers ; this early life developed the 
mind, but it did not give extensive knowledge. Mr. Lilly always 
felt that this want of an early education, of books and opportu- 
nity to read them, placed him at a disadvantage all through his 
life, and he never ceased to feel the great benefit which a free 
Public Library and Reading Room would have been to him, and 
those about him, in his boyhood. The desire for knowledge 
which he had in early life, continued until the end of his days. 
Although he did not make up for the want of early advantages, 
he found time and opportunity to obtain a general acquaintance 
with the learning of his time. He loved scientific knowledge ; 
its exactness suited the peculiar qualities of his mind ; he be- 
lieved in its utility in the practical affairs of life, and in its effect 
upon the general welfare of mankind. Again and again I have 
heard him say to young people : — " Every particle of practical 
knowledge you acquire, will at some time, be of service to you, 
whatever may be your occupation in life ; " he believed, too, that 



DEDICATION OF LILLY LIBRARY BUILDING. 95 

the civilization of mankind has been, and is to be advanced by 
the acquisition and diffusion of knowledge. 

He was not a believer in the theory that there was a time 
when mankind were in a higher state of civilization than at pres- 
ent, and that there has been a gradual decline since that early 
period. This was a favorite theory in early historic times. In 
the mythologies of most peoples there exists a tradition of a 
" Golden Age," when the earth was the common property of man, 
and produced spontaneously all things necessary for an enjoya- 
ble existence ; when the land flowed with milk and honey ; 
beasts of prey lived peaceably with other animals, and mankind 
had not yet by selfishness, pride and other vices and pleasures, 
fallen from a state of innocence, but lived secure and happy in 
pleasant associations, without discord, without care, without toil 
and without weariness, while good of all kinds abounded. The 
periods of degeneration since that time have been termed by 
these early theorists, the "Age of Silver," the "Brazen Age,'" 
and the "Age of Iron." 

The recent science of prehistoric archaeology, which uses the 
spade in its investigations, teaches that at the time of the earliest 
traces of man's existence upon the earth, he was a barbarian, 
dwelling in caves by the sea, and living upon such fish and ani- 
mals as he could catch, and such vegetables as grow without 
cultivation ; his weapons were made of stone, roughly shaped 
by a process of chipping away fragments from a large mass, so 
as to produce cutting edges. It is not determined that he had 
any spoken language, and it is believed that his existence dates 
back to what is known in geology as the quartenary period, and 
is variously estimated to have been from fifty thousand to two 
hundred thousand years ago. How long man existed upon the 
earth before he was able to make even the rude implements 
which have been discovered, probably can never be ascertained ; 
we know, however, that man's advancement in the manufacture 
of implements was slow, and that the bow and arrow were not 
made till long after the early period to which I have alluded. 



96 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

Within a comparatively recent period, instead of sighing for 
the " Golden Age" of the past, men have been looking forward 
to the golden age of the future, and endeavoring to ascertain the 
law of human progress. 

Pascal, who died in 1662, wrote : — " By a special prerogative 
of the human race, not only each man advances in the sciences, 
but all men together make continual progress therein as the uni- 
verse grows ; because the same thing happens in the succession 
of men which takes place in the different ages of an individual. 
So that the whole succession of men in the course of so many 
ages may be regarded as one man u/io lives al-uuiys, atid learns con- 
tinuallv." In 1669, some of Pascal's works were published, but 
that part which treated upon the advancement of the human 
race was omitted, and it was not until the next century that it 
was disclosed to the world. 

In the eighteenth century, a book was written by Vico, a 
Venetian professor, entitled, "The Principles of a New Science 
concerning the Common Nature of Nations," devoted to the 
philosophy of history, and recognizing the,fact that the progress 
of humanity is governed by law. 

Later, Leibnitz formulated the thought : — " The Present, 
born of the Past, is pregnant of the Future." and declared that 
" Man seems able to arrive at perfection." 

Herder in his Philosophy of History says : — " There is noth- 
ing enthusiastical in the hope that wherever men may dwell at 
some future period, they will dwell rational, just and happy, — 
happy not through the means of their reason alone, but of the 
common reason of the whole fraternal race." 

Descartes declared: — "The experience which I have in 
physics teaches me that it is possible to arrive at a knowledge 
of many things which will be very useful in life, and that we 
may yet discover methods by which man, comprehending the 
force and the action of fire, water, air, stars, skies, and all other 
bodies which environ us, as distinctly as we comprehend the 
different trades of our artisans, shall be able to employ them in 
some fashion for all the uses to which they are appropriate, and 



DEDICATION OF LILLY LIBRARY BUILDING. 



97 



thus shall render himself master and possessor of nature. Men 
may learn to enjoy the fruits of the earth without trouble, their 
health will be preserved, and they will be able to exempt them- 
selves from an infinitude of ills as well of the bodv. as of the 
mind, and even j'jerhaps from the weakness of old age." 

\Yith()ut attempting to trace the growth of tliis theory, but 
coming down nearer to our own time, we find attempts have been 
made to state the law which governs human progress. 

By one it has been stated : — ''The evolutions of humanitv 
correspond with the evolutions of thought." 

By another : — 'We are justified in concluding that the order 
of human progress in all respects will mainly depend on the or- 
der of progression of the intellectual convictions of mankind ; 
that is, on the law of successive transformations of human 
opinions." 

By still another it is stated: — " Tlie progress of mankind 
depends upon the success with which the laws of phenomena are 
investigated, and on the extent to which the knowledge of these 
laws is diffused." 

Another important statement has recently been made : — 
''The extraordinary strides which have been made in the differ- 
ent sciences during the past century, are owing more to the gen- 
eral interest which has been awakened in study among all classes 
of the population, than to the individual labors of single savants 
however eminent." 

In the foregoing declarations, I find stated the theory of our 
friend, that the acquisition and diffusion of scientific knowledge 
leads to still farther discovery, and at the same time to a higher 
and still higher degree of civilization. He believed in it, he acted 
upon it, and his faith in it led him to give for Cosmian Hall and 
the Free Congregational Society, for the Lilly Hall of Science, 
for our Library Building, and to devote all his property remain- 
ing at his death, to still farther ])romote the progress of hu- 
manitv. 



98 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

Possibly every one may not agree with the theory that our 
civilization is due to the influence of science to the extent that 
Mr. Lilly believed, and as many others have believed. 

Prof. Huxley stated in a lecture published in this country 
in 1867 : — " Modern civilization rests upon physical science ; take 
away her gifts to our own country, and our position among the 
leading nations of the world is gone to-morrow ; for it is physi- 
cal science only, that makes intelligence and moral energy 
stronger than brute force. The w^hole of modern thought is 
steeped in science ; and has made its way into the works of our 
best poets, and even the mere man of letters, who affects to ig- 
nore and despise science, is unconsciously impregnated with her 
spirit, and indebted for his best products to her methods. I 
believe that the greatest intellectual revolution mankind has yet 
seen is now slowly taking place by her agency. She is teaching 
the world that the ultimate court of appeal is observation and 
experiment, and not authority ; she is teaching it to estimate 
the value of evidence ; she is creating a firm and living faith in 
the existence of immutable, moral and physical law, perfect 
obedience to which, is the highest possible aim of an intelligent 
being." 

This statement may seem to some an exaggerated one, but 
all who reflect upon this matter will agree that science has exer- 
cised, and must always continue to exercise, a vast influence upon 
civilization. 

Who can estimate the influence upon the progress of man- 
kind resulting from the knowledge of astronomy ? — The effect of 
the change from the belief that the earth was a vast immovable 
plane, about which all heavenly bodies revolved, and in some 
way influenced the destinies of mankind, to the belief that the 
earth is one of a system of planets revolving around the sun, 
governed in their motions by laws as well ascertained as the ex- 
istence of the planets themselves. 

Under this change, slowly, but inevitably, the system of as- 
trology gave way, with all its calculations and heavenly houses, 
for other and more rational ideas. 



DEDICATION OF LILLY LIBRARY BUILDING. 99 

When the mechanism of the heavens is as well understood 
by all, as the motions and character of our planetarj- system are 
understood by comparatively a few, who can foretell the result, 
from the enlargement of the human comprehension, upon the 
progress of mankind ? 

Who can estimate the influence upon human progress, of the 
knowledge already acquired of the geological history of the 
earth ? — The knowledge of its development from an immense 
body in a state of igneous fusion, when no ocean bathed it, and 
no atmosphere surrounded it, when no wind blew over it, and no 
rain fell upon it, but the intense heat held all its materials in so- 
lution. In those days, the rocks which are now the very bones 
and sinews of our mother earth, her granites, her porphyries 
her basalts, her syenites, were melted into a liquid mass, moving 
in its orbit around the sun, its surface gradually cooling, until 
an atmosphere was formed, with all the phenomena connected 
with it, — the rising of vapors, their condensation into clouds, the 
falling of rain, and the gathering of waters upon the surface of 
the earth, until a condition was reached when vegetable and an- 
imal life in their simplest forms could exist, and for ages after, 
until the higher order of plants and animals, and finally, man 
appeared upon the earth, and then for innumerable years after 
until man arrived at a state when history began, and a record 
was made of the changes in the localities of man's existence. 
It is only by the most careful examination that man has been 
able to read the record contained in the rocks and the crust of 
the earth. "Geology teaches us," says Goethe, "that nature 
will be reported. All things are engaged in writing their own 
history. The planet and the pebble go attended by their shad- 
ows ; the rolling rock leaves its scratches on the mountain ; the 
river its channel in the soil ; the animal its bones in the stratum; 
the fern leaf its modest epitaph in the coal ; the falling drop its 
sculpture in the sand or stone ; not a foot slips on the snow or 
along the ground, but prints in characters more or less lasting, a 
map of its march. The air is full of sounds, the sky of tokens. 



loo ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

the ground of all memoranda and signatures ; subjects covered 
with hints which spealv to the intelligent." 

Who can calculate the benefit the world has derived from 
the knowledge of chemistry? — The change from the time when 
all matter was supposed to be divided into four elements, fire, air, 
earth and water; the change from the theories of the alchemists, 
who assumed that it was not the intention of nature to make any 
other metals than gold and silver, and who occupied their time 
in attempting to change all baser metals into either gold or silver, 
and to discover the philosopher's stone, which should not only 
work this desired change in metals, but should heal all diseases, 
and indefinitely prolong human life. In urging this theory upon 
Pope Nicholas IV, it was explained that an old man, while plow- 
ing in the field, found some yellow liquor in a golden phial, and 
drank it, and thereupon he became transformed into a hale, ro- 
bust and accomplished youth. It was thought that this wonder- 
ful substance would change the most wicked man into one kind 
and charitable, and whose chief pleasure would consist in con- 
templating the wonderful works of the Deity. When alcohol 
was discovered, it was thought that the desired elixir had been 
produced, but it was afterwards learned that it not only did not 
change wicked men into good, but that its effect upon good men 
was not always desirable. This sanguine, but suspected class, 
considered themselves to be under the special guidance of the 
Almighty. th(_»ugh popular prejudice associated alchemists with 
the powers of evil. We must give them credit, however, for 
preparing the way for the modern science of chemistry. This 
science enables us to determine with accuracy the composition 
of minerals, the elements of food, and the change whicli it un- 
dergoes in its transit through the animal economy, and the trans- 
formations that take place in organic substances generally ; the 
compounding of medicines ; the compositions of soils and ma- 
nures ; the ingredients of plants, and the best modes of supply- 
ing the food they require. This science takes cognizance of dead 
matter and the changes it undergoes, together with the sub- 
stances obtained from plants and animals, and it furnishes us 



DEDICATION OF LILLY LIDRAKV LIILI)IX(;. loi 

with an explanation bordering on natural philosophy. In its 
practical application to the industries of life, it includes the art 
of manufacturing various substances employed in commerce and 
in domesticlife, and is connected with the arts and manufactures, 
and the substances used in medicines. 

The science of botany too, has been of the utmost benefit to 
the world. The history of this science shows a growth from a 
simple and often imperfect description of less than three hun- 
dred species of plants, till now we have a list of one hundred 
thousand different forms of flowering plants, and twenty-five 
thousand flowerless ones. The study of this science has given 
delight to vast numl)ers of people ; it has shown that there is 
not a flower that blooms but has some beauty only unveiled to 
the minute inquirer, some peculiarity in structure fitting it to its 
destined place and purpose, and yet not apparent to the casual 
observer. To the intelligent student, it furnishes a delight and 
mental discipline found in (i^w otht'V studies. The invention 
of the microscope, and an untold amount of labor, has unfolded 
to us the method of the growth of plants, and the laws of their 
existence. An idea can be obtained of the amount of labor per- 
formed, from the fact that in 1850 a list of books on botany was 
published, numbering fifteen thousand. So thoroughly has the 
work been done, that it is said by Prof. Whitney, if a man 
were placed upon any part of the earth without any knowledge 
of his whereabouts, if he were familiar with the science of bot- 
any, he could give a tolerably good guess as to his location by 
the flora of the locality, and that this could not be determined 
by a knowledge of any other science. It is evident to every one 
that the general physiology of plants, which pre-supposes a 
knowledge of physical and chemical laws influencing them, to- 
gether with the concrete natural history of the species dealt with, 
must form the only secure basis for scientific agriculture ; that it 
has not been fully recognized as such, hitherto, depends upon 
its inevitable imperfections, wiiich will be sooner removed, in 
proportion as agriculturists devote themselves to the study of 
physiological laws. Botany finds a place in the study of geology 



T02 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

and geography. The perishable nature of vegetable structure 
renders the fossil remains of plants less valuable as objects of 
paleontological reasonings than the better preserved hard parts 
of animals, especially as the latter afford safer grounds of esti- 
mating how much has been lost, how much has been preserved, 
of ancient forms of organization. But botanical reasonings 
form an essential link in geological inductions. \n physical ge- 
ography the concrete natural history of plants becomes a por- 
tion of the concrete natural history of the glebe ; the physiolog- 
ical laws are involved with physical laws of climate and soil, in 
the explanation of possible distributions either in an abstract 
point of view, or for the purpose of practical application, while 
svstematic classification, and the natural history of particular 
species, become the only guide by which we can attempt to trace 
back the existing conditions of distribution towards their origin, 
.and thus perform the share due from botany, in the historical 
connection of physical geography with geology. 

If the knowledge of astronomy, geology, chemistry and 
botanv, has been of such vast benefit to mankind, what shall we 
sav of the influence of the knowledge of the animal kingdom ? 
In the latter part of the seventeenth century, it was estimated by 
Rav, that the number of species known as beasts was one hun- 
dred and fifty, birds five hundred, fishes five hundred, and it was 
supposed that "the whole sum of species of beasts and birds 
mi-^ht exceed by a third part, and fishes by one-half, of those 
known," making a total of sixteen hundred vertebrates. After 
two hundred vears, it is now estimated that the number of spe- 
cies of mammals is twelve hundred, birds seventy-five hundred, 
reptiles two thousand, fishes ten thousand, making a total of 
twentv thousand species. Of the invertebrate groups, it is esti- 
mated that over one hundred thousand species of beetles alone 
are to be found in the museums of the world, the total number 
of distinct forms of insects is placed at half a million, while in 
the whole animal kingdom, there exist about a million species. 
In 1843, it was estimated that there were fifty-three hundred 
British fossils ; to-day, fifteen thousand are in the museums, and 



DEDICATION OF LILLY LIBRARY BUILDING. 103 

twenty- five thousand are described in the rocks of the world. It 
is estimated that two million species of the animal kingdom 
have lived and died upon the earth, and in the waters of the 
earth, since the creation of animal life. St)me idea can be gained 
of the vast amount of labor performed in this branch of science 
from the fact that Prof. Baird, in the compilation of his work 
" The Mammals and Birds of North America," consulted over 
two thousand volumes. 

This vast number of animals has been examined, studied, 
classified and described, both as to their structure and habits of 
life, specimens collected in museums, books with illustrations 
have been prepared, until even little children can tell the names 
of many of them from the pictures in their holiday books. 

A knowledge of their wonderful structure, their beautiful 
adaptation, amazing instincts, admirable powers and interesting 
qualities, tends to expand the mind and elevate the heart. This 
study disciplines the memory, it demands the exercise of patient 
investigation, it enforces attention to minutiae, it leads to the de- 
tection of differences where none but the practiced eye would 
perceive them, to trace out analogies or affinities, which reflec- 
tion alone can discover. Its aim is truth, and therefore it must 
be a noble and elevating pursuit. " To every man," says Martin, 
" whose heart is well attuned, whose feelings are pure and unde- 
based. Nature presents a thousand charms. At every step she 
delights him with new wonders ; she invites him to acquaintance 
and well is he rewarded who obeys her call. The votary of na- 
ture deems no object unworthy of examination, none destitute 
of interest ; nor does the spirit of philosophic inquiry suffer him 
to rest satisfied with a casual glance at the multitudinous phe- 
nomena around him. He is not content to wonder and admire ; 
but, urged onward, he attempts to trace back effects to causes ;. 
he investigates, he discriminates, he analyzes, he combines,, 
and still proceeding in his course, endeavors to obtain a glimpse 
— imperfect it may be — of the mighty plan of creation — a 
glimpse of the grand scheme, by which the whole is blended into 
unitv." 



I04 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

We shall not forget in our study of Nature, for it has never 
been forgotten, that "the proper study of mankind is man." 
As Sir William Hamilton expressed the thought : — " On earth 
there is nothing great but man ; in man there is nothing great 
but mind." No one can study the history of science without 
being reminded of the words of Pericles : — ''The whole earth is 
the monument of illustrious men." It is one of the noblest de- 
lights for those who reflect and love to be grateful, to trace the 
chief components of the monuments of illustrious men to their 
authors — to find whence came the discoveries, inventions, con- 
ceptions, institutions and endeavors of the ages in the field of 
culture, freedom and truth. Who has not enjoyed the pleasure 
of finding the spots on the charts of human progress, where you 
put down your finger and say: — "Here are Pythagoras, Plato 
and Socrates ; here is x\ristotle ; here are Copernicus, T)'cho 
Brahe and Kepler ; there are Galileo, Newton, La Place and the 
Herschels ; here are Leibnitz, Werner, Lyell and Miller ; here 
are Harvey, Ray, Linnceus, Cuvier, Humboldt and Agassiz ; 
here are Archimedes, Stephenson, W^att and Arkwright ; here 
are Franklin, Morse and Edison ; here are Fulton, Whitney and 
McCormick ; here are the historians, Heroditus, Thucydides, 
Xenophon, Sallust, Livy, Pliny, Tacitus, Niebuhr and Gibbon ; 
here are the great poets, orators, artists, and men of literature ; 
here are the successful generals, there the great statesmen ; here 
the world's great navigators ; here the teachers of the Church 
and the Reformers ; here the heroes and martyrs ; here we can 
trace the civilization of Greece, and there the civilization of 
Rome ; here the influence of the printing press and the causes 
and effect of the University. 

It will not be understood that study has been, or should be, 
confined to the subjects I have named. History, the science of 
human government, jurisprudence, art, literature, the various 
industries of the world, the systems of theology and religions of 
mankind, have each received, and are entitled to receive, equal 
attention. 

I know it may be said with trutli that no person can have a 



DEDICATION' OF LILLY LIBRARY BL'ILDING. 105 

thorough knowledge of all these subjects, but it is equally true 
that every one may have a general knowledge of them, and a 
more extended knowledge of a few chosen subjects. It is not 
necessary tliat a person should examine every house in a city, 
and count all the doors, windows and bricks in each, in order to 
understand the plan of the city. Rosseau said that a man 
might be a very great botanist without knowing the name of a 
single plant, and if this is true of a botanist, a man may be a 
zoologist, or a geologist, or a physicist, if not great, at least in- 
telligent, without, meantime, troubling himself with technicali- 
ties. But even if an extended knowledge cannot be gained of 
any one branch of study, a general knowledge of a single branch 
is preferable to entire ignorance of all. I know it has been said 
that "a little learning is a dangerous thing," but this thought 
has often been misapplied. Its application often reminds one of 
the man who desired to put to practical test the claim that soft 
feathers make an excellent bed ; he placed a single feather upon 
a large rock, and laid down upon it for his night's sleep. When 
he awoke in the morning, sore and lame, he exclaimed, " If one 
feather makes such aches and pains in a man's bones, what would 
a whole bed full of them do?" It was not the little feather, but 
the great rock that had caused the trouble ; it is not the little 
feather of learning that is the dangerous thing, but the great 
rock of ignorance ; it is the over-estimate of the amount learned 
compared with the vast amount unknown, that is dangerous. A 
little learning is always useful, a greater amount is still more 
valuable, while a thorough knowledge of any one of the subjects 
to which I have alluded, will be a source of enjoyment forever, 
and of great use to the possessor in u«hatever calling he may be 
engaged. 

Samuel Johnson says : — " He who enlarges his curiosity after 
the works of nature, demonstrably multiplies the inlets to his 
happiness." 

"A youth," says President Oilman, " who has been taught 
to observe the. phenomena of nature, who knows the aspects of 
the starry heavens, who welcomes the ' procession of the flowers. 



io6 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

from the Arbutus to the Asters, who knows the birds from their 
songs, who loves to chase the brilliant butterfly, who has watched 
the animals of the forest, who has studied the star-fish and the 
jelly-tish in their seaboard homes, who has learned the rocks of 
the region where he dwells, who delights to climb the mountain 
and trace out the range of the ridges, the interlockings of the 
valleys, and the courses of the flowing waters, — the youth who 
can thus hold 'communion with the outward forms of nature ' 
has the foundation laid for a life-time of culture, for an infinite 
variety of intellectual enjoyment." 

The little Kindergarten graduate, whose older brother had 
tapped a maple tree to give the little fellow the enjoyment of 
gathering sap, who, after watching it drop for a time, went into 
the house, and asked for a book so that he could find out " What 
made the sap run," disclosed the spirit of inquiry, which, gratified 
and continued, ends in wisdom. The practice of studying a 
little each day of the year, continued for fifty years, will result 
in the acquisition of a vast amount of knowledge. 

People differ in their tastes for the various branches of 
knowledge ; one enjoys the study of plants, another a knowledge 
of animals ; some are interested in the study of geology, while 
others delight in the study of astronomy ; some find infinite de- 
light in the truths of chemistry, while others find equal enjoy- 
ment in the truths of history. Whichever branch is chosen for 
thorough study, it will be found that a vast amount of knowl- 
edge will be incidentally acquired in every other branch. 

May we not hope that among the young people of our vil- 
lage, the enlargement of our Library in a more convenient build- 
ing, may be the means of so increasing the interest in the vari- 
ous branches of knowledge, that from a love of learning, classes 
may be formed, similar to those already in existence, and that 
each class will take up the study of some branch, and strive to 
acquire an interest and an enjoyment in its pursuit, until we 
shall have in our village an entire community of thoughtful, stu- 
dious and cultivated people, who, if they cannot be called dis- 
coverers of scientific knowledge, and possibly not scholars in 



DEDICATION OF LILLY LIBRARY BUILDIXG. 107 

the broadest sense of that word, may be properly classed among 
intelligent and well-informed people, who form the highest and 
best class of society in any community — an aristocracy founded 
upon intellectual cultivation and knowledge, rather than upon 
mere wealth and artificial surroundings. 

Then will the means of enjoyment of our people be vastly 
increased, and the wishes of the founder of the Lilly Library be 
to some extent realized ; then will the advantages furnished by 
the two great benefactors of our people — Samuel L. Hill and 
Alfred T. Lilly — be more and more instrumental in promoting 
what'they each desired so much, — " the well-being and elevation 
of humanity." 

At the conclusion of Mr. Bond's address, the following orig- 
inal ode, written by Rev. F. A. Hinckley, was sung by the school 
children under the direction of the Principal of the school, W. D. 
Miller : 

Let there be light ! Such the command of old. 
When law from out the reign of chaos rolled. 
Let there be light ! Such still the edict kind, 
Which lifts and glorifies the human mind. 

Not now Brute Force the power that rules shall be, 
But Knowledge, blessing all from sea to sea. 
Thought takes the scepter in his own strong hand, 
And moulds the nations to his purpose grand. 

With grateful hearts for what the past has brought, 
Glad for the lesson a good life has taught, 
A temple, calling eager minds its way. 
Sacred to thought, we consecrate to-day. 

Speak, silent walls, for lips that now are dumb, 
Speak, loaded shelves, for all the years to come. 
Speak in the Truth, thy founder loved so well, 
Its message to mankind forever tell. 

The song finished, Mr. Riley said : 

Mr. Lilly gave to the Trustees $5000, with which to buy 
books for our Library, with the request that each Trustee should 
select two hundred books of his own choice. The next speaker 



io8 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

will tell us how to use these and other books. For a quarter of 
a century he has been up and down among us, respected, trusted 
and honored by all. He has christened our babes, educated our 
children, married our neighbors, and buried our beloved dead. 
With willing hands for every good work, he has almost come to 
be recognized as our common village parent and pastor. It 
gives me great pleasure to introduce to you. Rev. E. G. Cobb. 

REV. E. G. COBB'S ADDRESS. 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : — If books were 
capable of resentment, as people are, there would be a perpetual 
feud between them and us on account of the abuse they get. 

A book, when we consider the thought in it, the art of the 
printer, engraver and binder, is a marvellous thing, worthy of 
reverent and affectionate handling. 

Do not break a new book back till the covers touch, in order 
to make it stay open. Open it on a table, and press the leaves 
down till they lie flat. 

In using a book, do not hold it by one side, or with your 
thumb in the center. Let it lie easily in your left hand, your 
thumb and fingers supporting each cover. 

Do not turn over the leaves with your moistened thumb. 
That will soil and wrinkle them. Catch them singly at the top 
with the forefinger of the right hand, and turn them. Do not 
lay an open book down on its face. Close it, using a slip of pa- 
per to mark your place. If the book contain plates, protected 
by a tissue leaf, do not try to turn the tissue with the hand. A 
light puff of breath will turn it quickly and smoothly. Do not 
use books for chair cushions. Do not rest on them with the el- 
bows as they lie open on the table. Right handling will keep 
books neat and double the time during which they will last. 

In the use of books, read for improvement. Some have an 
ambition to be great readers, and hurry over as many volumes 
as possible. This is like gross feeding without digestion. It in- 
duces dyspepsia and feebleness. Others read merely for en- 
tertainment, to pass the time. Such take easy books that 



DEDICATION OF LILLY LIP.RARV lU'ILDIXG. 109 

gratify fondness of adventure, or stimulate imagination, or 
feed curiosity as to how the story is coming out. This is as un- 
profitable as pouring water through a sieve to see it trickle. 

But inasmuch as story books fill so large a space in Public 
Libraries, and in the reading of the young, let me give this ad- 
vice : — Read with pencil and paper at hand. Note defects and 
excellencies, and after reading, write out an estimate of the book 
with reasons. It need not be long, and it will ensure some im- 
provement even from reading a poor book. After reading sev- 
eral or all the books of an author, write an estimate of him. with 
specifications from his works. File these estimates, review them 
occasionally, and you will soon be able to converse on what you 
have read, intelligently and instructively. As soon as you can 
come to it, read strong, instructive books. Read them slowly. 
One a month is better than one a day. 

The value of reading is to give information and stimulate 
thinking. In general, the person who reads a little, and thinks 
a good deal, is clearer, stronger, and more original in his views, 
than one who is continually filling himself with the thoughts of 
others. Just to read and remember is to pile up lumber. Ma- 
terial should be used. Learning alone is dull. Learning, think- 
ing and working make the full, ideal man. We should use books 
and not let them use us. 

While improvement is the great object in reading, it is yet 
proper, in the choice of books, to consult our tastes and moods. 
As with food, it is well to take what best agrees with us. The 
news of the day, some of the best humor, occasionally a story, 
snatches of poetry, as one feels the need, are all healthful tonics, 
if not real food, and should have place with heavier reading. So 
much indeed depends on taste, mood and habit in reading, that 
few positive rules can be given that will apply to all cases and 
circumstances. 

It will not do, however, to be the slaves of appetite and pas- 
sion in reading. We form tastes and habits. If they are de- 
praved, we must reform them. We should learn to like what is 
good for us. Those who have the responsibility of selecting 



no ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

books for a Public Library, should carefully exclude those which 
are morally bad. In deference to the manifold tastes of readers, 
they may put in almost every other kind of book. Readers 
should resolutely tone up their taste to the best. When this is 
done, a Library may be set open in a community, like a garden 
of flowers, and the people, like bees, may be left free to gather 
honey according to their own sweet will. Young readers need 
the advice of parents, teachers, or a prudent librarian, as to what 
they shall read. Our benefactor, Mr. Lilly, has already provided 
a choice collection of books, and the sum of what I need to say 
to the people of Florence, on the subject assigned me is, be sure 
to use them. In no other way can we so fitly honor his memory, 
as by getting the greatest possible good out of what he has so 
generously provided. 

Mr. Cobb's address concluded, Mr. .Riley said : 
The next speaker has resided with us only a short time, but 
long enough to prove that he is a worthy acquisition to our vil- 
lao-e, that he is a man of liberal education and a zealous worker 
for every good cause. Mr. Lilly, who was a keen observer of 
men, quickly discerned his good qualities, and gave him his con- 
fidence. That he understands the topic on which he is to speak 
has been well exemplified in his earnest efforts to interest our 
young men in educational work. I am much pleased that I can 
introduce to you Rev. P. H. Gallen, who will speak on the best 
way to spend spare hours. 

ADDRESS OF REV. P. H. GALLEN. 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : — Almost a year 
ago in a conversation with the late Mr. Lilly, to whose generos- 
ity we owe much as a community, he referred with feeling to the 
precious time that men waste. Having always at heart the wel- 
fare of humanity, and especially that portion belonging to the 
so-called industrial class, he suffered much when he considered 
their carelessness in matters that intimately concerned them. 
He felt that the few spare hours they possessed daily, should be 
devoted to improving their condition, should be employed in 
some way to benefit themselves and society in general. 



DEDICATION UF LILLY LILKAKV BL ILDING. iii 

Most men think of this wiien passing a lounging group on a 
street corner in the evening. The crowded saloons and other 
loafing centers also tell of opportunities lost, of time worse than 
wasted. Of course some pleasure is just as necessary in life as 
labor. Toil and weariness, unrelieved by periods for rest and 
amusement, would lead to physical ruin. A judicious mixture 
of work and recreation is desirable, but the preponderance of 
either marks imperfection. After devoting the requisite number 
of hours to labor and recreation, most men have some time 
which they feel is theirs to do with as they like. They may 
waste it in frivolity, or use it to good purpose. It may be spent 
in a way to injure themselves morally or physically, or to build 
up a more perfect manhood. In what way it may be spent to 
insure the most profit to the individual and to society, is a ques- 
tion which each one, knowing his own wants, abilities and op- 
portunities, must decide for himself. If he be an ordinary work- 
inginan, he may not hope to have the company of the learned or 
distinguished among men. During a spare hour he dare not 
enter the charmed circle where well-trained minds are used to 
sit at "reason's bancjuet." Society excludes him, because so- 
cially he is nobody, and the reading or scientific club will have 
nothing to do with him for obvious reasons. What can he do in 
his laudable desire for self-improvement ? God has given him 
faculties to develop. Is society in arms against him and God ? 
Is he to starve mentally, while plenty surrounds him ? Have 
the so-called better classes need of his muscles only, as of the 
horse or the ox? It must have seemed so at some time in the 
not very distant past, to the toiler, but to-day, thanks to an en- 
lightened public sentiment, and true Christian progress, he who 
labors may learn also, and he who gains knowledge may advance 
toward perfection. 

Invitingly open stand the doors of our Free Libraries to all, 
and within are the world's treasures. Says Emerson : "A com- 
pany of the wisest and wittiest men that could be picked out of 
all civil countries in a thousand years, have set in best order the 
results of their learning and wisdom. The men themselves 



112 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

were hid and inaccessible, solitary, impatient of interruption, 
fenced by etiquette ; but the thought which they did not uncover 
to their bosom friend, is here written out in transparent words 
to us, the strangers of another age." 

The Library invites men to forsake the unprofitable and 
dangerous companionship of street and saloon. What does it 
offer them instead of the vulgar amusement, the coarse jest or 
depraved company ? Has it something to give men that will in- 
terest, please and entertain as successfully as the village story- 
teller? Well we know the answer, and it is only the question of 
a very short time when the masses, the toiling majorities whose 
welfare is our welfare, upon whose progress ours depends, with 
whom we rise or fall, — 'tis not long until they too shall compre- 
hend the superior advantages a Library affords. That they do 
even now, to a great extent, is apparent. Self-interest is a pow- 
erful motive for action. Material advancement is often depend- 
ent upon knowledge, and when men are convinced that there is 
something to be gained by study, and everything lost in this life 
and prospectively in the next, by abuse of God-given time, then 
such conviction shall bring reform. When the official positions 
of our civil service shall be the rewards of education and intelli- 
gence, instead of political preference, then a great impetus will 
be given to the pursuit of knowledge among the masses. The 
discussion of social questions, now so general throughout the 
world, and affecting so intimately the people at large, has led in- 
quiring minds to seek information at first hand, rather than as 
in the past, depend altogether upon matter furnished by their 
leaders. When the great questions now agitating the minds of 
men, socialism, labor, capital, etc., come up in the future for final 
settlement, the masses will be fully prepared to act intelligently. 
We shall find that our free schools and free libraries have borne 
good fruit, and that our benevolent rich, were faithful stewards 
of God, saving and giving for all humanity. 

In the Library, where the good and the great still live, where 
the accumulated wisdom of centuries is preserved, where the 
successes and mistakes of former generations are recorded 



DEDICATION OF LILLY LIIiRARV lU'ILDIXG. 113 

where immortality is self-evident — these men will find in leisure 
moments all that soul or mind may crave. Hours spent in the 
companionship of the greatest minds are never wasted. Philos- 
ophers, historians and poets who once walked this earth in the 
flesh, are waiting in spirit to join the men of to-day in the in- 
terchange of thought. Call any one of them down from his 
shelf-throne, and he will obey. He will go to your home with 
you, let it be palace or garret. He will live with you, converse 
with you. All he knows he will tell you. He will introduce you 
to his friends who excel him in other departments of knowledge, 
and thus extend your acquaintance until it embraces the most 
charming, the jnirest, the most delightful companionship the 
world of genius holds. In such society our spare hours may well 
be spent with profit, and he who has so generously given us such 
a beautiful home of books, deserves our grateful remembrance. 

At the conclusion of Mr. Gallen's address, Mr. Riley said : 
An attractive feature of our new building is the pleasant 
Reading Room. More than a year ago a gentlemen appeared 
among us, unknown and untried to our village community, and 
during his residence here, by his earnest work for morality, and 
the uplifting of man in every walk of life, our people have 
learned to consider him one of their own. This gentleman, Rev. 
A. R. Xichols, will tell us something about our Reading Room. 

ADDRESS OF REV. A. R. NICHOLS. 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : — The most im- 
portant problem that can demand attention, at any time by any 
community, is the one that relates to the development of true, 
brave, strong character in its youth. There is a principle deeply 
laid in human nature, that resents dictation, and that demands 
an assertion of one's own personality. You may tell me not to 
do a thing, and very likely that will be the very thing I shall 
want to do, if for no other reason than to show my independence 
and my freedom from outside interference. You tell our youth 
not to gather upon the streets, not to frequent saloons, not to as- 
sociate together where low influences corrupt the taste, debase 



114 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

the moraJs, degenerate character, and develop the low tendencies 
of their being, and will not the bright, active, social, companion- 
able boys do these very things ? The better way is to put be- 
fore them strong counter attractions that will appeal to the 
higher elements of their being, not to tyrannize over conduct, 
but to influence choice, and to draw them unconsciously, but 
none the less surely, to things refining and ennobling. 

It is hoped that in the equipment of our Reading Room, it 
may win by its cheerful brightness, its superior advantages, and 
pure attractions, from the questionable influences of the street, 
to those that are truly helpful ; that it may successfully put in its 
bid, not only for many a leisure hour, but for character as well. 

We live in a manufacturing community. The convenience 
of rC)om or boarding-house will not, ordinarily, be sufficient to 
hold young men to any course of reading, or line of study, and 
besides slender purses will seriously interfere with the expense 
that the purchase of papers will necessarily involve. It is in- 
tended that our Reading Room will be fully furnished with quar- 
terlies, monthlies, weeklies and dailies, so that every one, how- 
ever poor, can keep abreast of the times in the current events 
that are taking place all over the world, and in the most recent 
discoveries that are made in this age of rapid thought and won- 
derful invention, and that revolutionize our industries, and 
change our habits of life. Different phases of thought will be 
presented in the discussion of questions of politics, morals, reli- 
gion, and all social reforms that affect the community. 

In visiting the Cyclorama of the battle of Gettysburg, you 
leave the stir and din and confusion of city life, and when the 
landing of the flight of stairs is reached, and the historic battle, 
the vividness of a Pennsylvania landscape, the heat of a July 
day that gives a tremor to the atmosphere, are all before you, 
you can but feel that you are ushered into a new world, — so 
marked and sudden is the transition. 

Through the Reading Room one comes into the larger life 
of the world. His mind will be quickened and enlarged with a 
broader outlook in range of opportunity. He will feel and know 



DEDICATION OF LILLY LIP.RARV lU'ILDING. 1.5 

that he lives in a busy world, larger than the humdrum life of 
his daily toil, which for a moment he leaves behind. 

Eyes get weary in looking intently a long time at objects 
near at hand ; great relief is found in lifting them, if but for a 
moment, to more distant things. One gets weary, exhausted, in 
the monotonous treadmill of daily work. Zest of life seems 
gone, the thrill of high incentive becomes deadened, and ambi- 
tion loses its stimulus, when the pressure and strain of unre- 
lieved care finds no respite ; but one can come into the Reading 
Room for a half hour and look out upon a world beyond his 
sphere, get interested in the live questions of the day, his sym- 
pathies enlisted, his personalities enlarged by the consciousness 
of a wider knowledge, and an increased intelligence, and he 
finds a wonderful relief. New interest is given to life. Energies 
become quickened. Work is accomplished with greater effi- 
ciency, and looked upon, not as an end, nor as drudgery, but as 
a means by which better, richer results are obtained. One can- 
not keep informed as to the affairs of the world without receiv- 
ing a firmer grasp to mind, developing greater intellectual vigor, 
refining taste, and giving culture and broadness of view. Then 
a glance into these things, may give such tendency to some mind 
among the many, as shall lead it to great achievements, shall 
strike a lead that will open to richest mines. Some dormant 
power may be awakened that will greatly bless the world. If a 
man does not have time for the higher literature, he need not be 
discouraged. A few minutes each day scrupulously used in 
gathering information will make one fairly intelligent upon al- 
most any question that may arise, and he will not feel entirely 
shut out from those of larger literary culture. Opinions will be 
more rational, judgment more nearly correct, decisions truer, and 
plans wiser and more successfully carried out. Confidence in 
one's own powers and resources will become firmer, and greater 
intelligence will lift to a higher plane of living. 

I rejoice in this auspicious occasion. I congratulate this 
community upon the opening of a Reading Room so elegant in 
all its furnishings. I sincerely hope that a grateful and appreci- 



ii6 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

ative public will as graciously respond to this munificent gift in 
its large and universal use as it was generously given, and that 
the founder's earnest wish that the whole influence of Library 
and Reading Room in enlightening mind and strengthening 
character will be fully realized. 

At the conclusion of Mr. Nichols' address, Mr. Riley in in- 
troducing the next speaker, said : 

The poet of the evening, whose discriminating words have 
been so well sung by the school children, was the pastor and 
particular friend of the donor of our Library. To him he cheer- 
fully expressed his opinions, hopes and desires upon various 
topics, many of which occupy the best minds of the country to- 
day. Li the short time that he has been among us, he has ac- 
quainted himself with our necessities and desires, and not only 
made himself one of us, but a constant and active worker for 
our welfare. Permit me to introduce to you, Rev. F. A. 
Hinckley, who will speak on Free Village Libraries. 

ADDRESS OF REV. F. A. HINCKLEY. 

Mr. Chairman and Friends : — If it be true as has been 
said that a good book is a world, and that next to acquiring 
good friends, the best acquisition is that of good books, what 
shall we say of the acquirement of a Repositor)' of such books ? 
Surely that it can be nothing less than a public benefaction. 
But a Free Village Library, which is the library localized, is more 
than a repository, it is, or may be under proper management, a 
positive educational force. That community is fortunate, which 
has a place where those who want reading, and know just what 
they want, may go to find it. But it is more, far more, to have 
an educating influence which does not wait for people to come 
to it, which goes direct with all its blessings to them. 

Nothing is more important in a community like ours, than 
the cultivation of the studious habit, and the Free Village, or 
local. Library, may be among the best educators of that habit. 
It is, however, a nice matter to know just where to draw the 
lines in the selection of books, and in the choice of methods for 
getting them read. To furnish weak, dissipating reading on the 



DEDICATION OF LILLY LII'.RAKV P.riLDING. 117 

one hand, is to throw away opportunity. To aim above the head 
of your constituency on the other hand, is to throw away oppor- 
tunity. To make connection with the popular demand, and yet 
keep just enough in advance of it, to draw it up and on, — this is 
success in the supervision of a Library. 

Now how is this success to be won, in the use of a Free Vil- 
lage Library ? Plainly, it seems me, by appealing to certain 
special classes, and aiming to supply certain special, conscious 
needs. What are some of these classes, what are some of these 
needs? First, there are the school children. What a work we 
can, if we will, make this Library do for them I In their study 
of History they are interested at any given time in certain special 
topics. By consultation between the Library management and 
the teachers, let books be provided bearing on these special 
topics, and attention called to them at the moment when they 
are needed, and will therefore have a special interest. In other 
words, let there be formed an intimate and advisory relation be- 
tween the Library and the school ; let the Library be considered 
by the pupils as supplementing the work of the school. Nothing 
for example, could be better calculated to cultivate the use of 
good English, and to interest the young student, than the read- 
ing of Hawthorne's True Stories in connection with his study of 
New England history. Let his attention be called to them at 
the proper time, and in a similar manner to other books equally 
good. 

Second, there are the Reading Clubs, of which we have so 
many. The Teacher's Meeting, with its study of educational 
methods, and of the record of the men and women who have 
contributed more or less directly to the ever-growing wisdom of 
these methods ; the Chautauqua circle, with its suggestive and 
valuable work in so many lines ; the German group, pursuing 
during winter evenings the great thought and the rhythmic 
beauty of the language of Lessing, Goethe and Schiller ; the 
Civil Government class, with an endless list of books of refer- 
ence and side reading which could always be used to advantage; 
these and like demands, in consultation between the library au- 



ii8 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

thorities and those conducting such meetings, circles, groups, 
and classes, could be advisedly met, and in their meeting a large 
contribution would be made toward the cultivation of the stu- 
dious habit among us. 

Third, there is the general public always to be appealed to. 
Not most successfully by simply providing a collection of mis- 
cellaneous reading, but by reading bearing directly upon the 
topic uppermost at the time. When Bismarck withdraws from 
the public service, we want to read about him and about German 
politics. Then is the time for books giving information in that 
line. And so on through the whole list of topics. L'nite with 
the substantial qualities of the Library the freshness of the 
newspaper, and books will be sought eagerly, and used under- 
standingly. 

The great thing in every case is to make the connections. 
To this end, weekly, and perhaps daily, bulletins are invaluable. 
Furnish them to the school, the club, the public, as a sure me- 
dium of constant communication, telling each just what it wants 
to know at the moment the information is received, and the ed- 
ucational work of the Library is assured. This has been done 
elsewhere. I rejoice to think of the possibility of its being done 
here. 

It is in the contemplation of the Library as such an educa- 
tor, that I come to this meeting with unalloyed satisfaction, 
feeling it a privilege to take part in the dedication of this third 
memorial of our revered and beloved friend. This Hall is in 
part his monument ; the Hall of Science in yonder College is to 
him a most worthy monument ; and this Library building is his 
monument. Representing his love of intellectual freedom, his 
love of " the truth as it is in Nature," and his love for this im- 
mediate locality, and its highest welfare, it taxes them all to do 
justice to the breadth and warmth of his philanthropic life. But 
to-night belongs especially to the Library. May it stand in all 
future time, an influence for enlightenment, for refinement, for 
culture, such as the heart and conscience of this community will 
never willingly let die. 



A p p e n cl i X . 



Appendix. 



It is deemed fitting that the following report of the funeral 
service of Mrs." Lilly, from the Northampton Herald, should be 
preserved in the Memorial volume of her husband, 

THE LAST TRIBUTE. 
The funeral service of the wife of Alfred Theodore Lilly 
occurred yesterday afternoon, at Mr. Lilly's residence, every 
available space being occupied by friends and relatives of the 
deceased. Many floral tributes were sent to the house by near 
and dear friends, a pillow made of choice hot-house exotics, with 
the initials, " L. M. L." in the center, being the appropriate de- 
sign placed at the head of the casket. The opening exercises 
consisted of the reading of the following selections from Whit- 
tier, by Mrs. Elizabeth Powell Bond : 

The blessing of her quiet life 

Fell on us like the dew, 
And good thoughts where her footsteps pressed, 

Like fairy blossoms grew. 

Sweet promptings unto kindest deeds 

Were in her very look ; 
We read her face, as one who reads 

A true and holy book ; 

The measure of a blessed hymn. 

To which our hearts could move ; 
The breathing of an inward psalm , 

A canticle of love. 

There seems a shadow on the day, 

Her smile no longer cheers ; 
A dimness on the stars of night, 

Like eyes that look through tears. 



ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

Still let her mild rebuking stand 

Between us and the wrong, 
And her dear memory serve to make 

Our faith in goodness strong. 

And grant that she who, trembling here, 

Distrusted all her powers, 
May welcome to her holier home 

The well-beloved of ours. 

A track of moonlight on a quiet lake, 

Whose small waves on a silver-sanded shore 

Whisper of peace, and with the low winds make 

Such harmonies as keep the woods awake, 

And listening all night long for their sake, 

A green-waved slope of meadow, hovered o'er 

By angel troops of lilies, swaying light 

On viewless stems, with folded wings of white, 

A slumberous stretch of mountain-land, far seen 

Where the low westering day, with gold and'green. 

Purple and amber, softly blended, fills 

The wooden vales, and melts among the'hills ; 

A vine-fringed river, winding to its rest 

On the calm bosom of a stormless sea. 

Bearing alike on its placid breast. 

With earthly flowers, and heavenly stars impressed, 

The hues of time and of eternity ; 

Such are the pictures which the thought of'thee 

O friend, awakeneth, — charming the keen'pain 

Of thy departure, and our sense of loss. 

Requiting with the fulness of thy gain. 

Lo ! on the quiet grave thy life-long work 

Dropped only at its side, methinks doth shine, 

Of thy beatitude the radiant sign ! 

No sob of grief, no wild lament be there. 

To break the silence of the holy air ; 

But, in their stead, the silent breathing prayer 

Of hearts still waiting for a rest like thine, 

O spirit released ! Forgive us, if henceforth. 

With sweet and pure similitudes of earth. 

We keep thy pleasant memory freshly green, 

Of love's inheritance a priceless part, 



LTCV MARIA LILTA' 123 

Which, fancy'^ self, in reverent awe, is seen 

To paint, fortjetful of the tricks of art, 

With pencil dipped alone in colors of the heart. 

The Cosmian choir rendered in an effective manner this 
hymn : — 

Happy the man whose cautious steps 

Still keep the i^olden mean ; 
Whose life, in wisdom's rule confirmed. 

Preserves a conscience clean. 

Not of himself too highiy thinks, 

Nor acts the boaster's part ; 
His modest tongue the language sp:;aks 

Spontanaous from his heart. 

Not in low scandal's arts he deals. 

For truth dwells in his breast ; 
With Ljrief he sees his neighbor's faults, 

And thinks and hopas the best. 

To sect or party, his large soul 

Disdains to bs confined ; ' 

He loves the good of every name, 

'Mong all the human kind. 

The touching address of Mrs. Bond, given beh^w, called out 
expressions of deep emotion from those present, and the tender 
feeling evinced by the speaker during her remarks, spoke more 
eloquently than words of her love and regard for the departed. 

MRS. bond's address. 

Perhaps no words could be so eloquent as this silence, to 
express the sympathy that has drawn us all hither to-day, to en- 
ter into the sorrow that has come upon this household. And yet 
it is the impulse of human hearts to try to put into words the 
tenderness they feel when a kindred heart is sorely stricken. 
But words have still another part in such a service as this, a part 
to perform in memory of the dear friend whose silent form is in 
our midst. For it is the compensation of right living, as it is the 
penalty of a faithless life, that the hour of death emphasizes all 
the past ; brings out in strong relief the characteristics that have 



124 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

stamped themselves upon the passing hours that have made up 
the whole of life. The life of this dear friend comes before me 
like a placid lake, deep, and quiet, and sheltered, and lying 
broad open to the sun. Home has been her kingdom. It is said 
that the happiest women leave no histories behind them. Her 
life history is happy, and without any element of tragedy in it. 
We know that it must have had its share of anxieties and cares, 
since it was a human life ; we know that the early years were 
years of hard work, for competency came to this household as 
the fruit of busy, faithful work at the hands of both husband 
and wife. But work never irritated or soured her nature. She 
accepted it gladly and thankfully, and brightened it with her 
own good cheer. When in later years a sense of relief came, 
from the pressure of work, and she might have folded her hands 
and rested on her oars, she could not lay her duties down. It 
was her hands that had ministered all these years to the needs of 
her husband, and this privilege she could not be persuaded to 
yield, and so the untiring hands kept on, almost to the last day, 
in their service of love. Forty-eight years these two have lived 
and worked together ! It has been her part to make a home so 
peaceful, so sunny, so restful, that it has been a secure haven in- 
to which the hard-buffetted, business-worn husband could re- 
treat, and find renewal of strength and courage. In all these 
forty-eight years, of which I speak in memory to-day, she has 
never been heard to speak unkindly or uncharitably of any. 
What a record is that I What an element of peace in the world ! 
Who can tell what streams of saving influence have had their 
source in her sweet charitableness. It is of such saviors as this 
that the world stands daily and hourly in need ; such sunny, 
kindly natures that shine down the evil ; that make warm and 
fertile soil for all good seed to grow in. Dear friends, let us all 
take to our hearts this beautiful lesson of her life. The years 
that may still be left to us, let us fill with sunshine as she did, 
leaving no dark corners in our natures for dark thoughts, or 
harsh judgments, or evil deeds to germinate in. 

She was not a mother, and yet she has filled a mother's place 



LUCY MARIA LILLY. 125 

to one who came to love her with true daughterly affection. And 
young children grew up about her, supplying to her life, as com- 
pensation in part for what she had bestowed, the freshness and 
joyousness, that else might have l)eeii in some measure wanting. 

Are you asking in your hearts, what was her belief ? I do 
not know. We read in the New Testament, "The fruit of the 
spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, faith, meek- 
ness, temperance." In all these fruits did ht-r spirit abound. 
And since her life was rooted in all that was gentle, and loving, 
and unselfish, we know that she has laid hold upon all immor- 
talities that are vouchsafed to the human soul. The influence 
of her life will still live on in the lives of those who cherish her 
memory. Our faiths take different forms. To some of us it is 
clear that all this gentleness, this self-forgetfulness, this sweet 
charitableness, are not of the earth, and do not go down to the 
grave with the changing form, but pertain to that which is not 
perishable. Toothers, faith takes the form of perfect trust that 
the ordering of the universe is wise and beneficent, and this per- 
fect trust takes the trusting soul into perfect rest. Early in the 
week I stood with the sorrowing parents and sister of a young 
man who had laid down his work just at the thresliold of life, 
just as he was entering with gladness and enthusiasm upon his 
student life. There seems an element of tragedy in such a death, 
when so many hopes are disappointed, when so much promise 
of useful work comes to naught. But no element of tragedy 
darkens our memorial service to-day. It is a well-rounded and 
ripened life that we bear in tender memory. The service has all 
been rendered, and life has yielded an abundant harvest to her, 
of comfort and joy. And she has been spared the anguish of 
seeing her dear ones suffer with her the agonies of prolonged 
illness. 

And now our thought turns again to those who will miss 
from their midst this gracious, loving presence. Time is very 
merciful, and softens our griefs into ministering memories ; even 
changes them to ever-present comforters. Fortj'-eight years of 
united, happy, married life. It is only the chosen few who have 



126 ALFRED THEODORE LILLY. 

such a life experience. We will not dwell upon that which is 
gone. Rather let us give thanks for such abounding blessed- 
ness ; let us give thanks that this dear friend whose sorrows we 
are permitted to share, has all the consolation of remembered 
appreciation and faithfulness on his part, to bear him up in this 
hour of bereavement. There are sorrows that are sweeter than 
common joys, and I know that this sorrow is such. She has 
ministered long and faithfully to him ; but it was reserved for 
him to perform the last service, to see her safely through all toil 
and all suffering. I know that he must be glad and thankful in 
this great privilege. I know too that such sorrow, sorrow with 
no shade of bitterness in it, has consolations that the world 
knows not of, and cannot divine. With this sorrow in his house, 
will peace and blessedness still dwell with him. 

The services closed with the rendering of the following 
hymn: 

Why should we fear to tread 

The gloomy vale of death? 
Why should our minds be filled with dread. 

When forced to yield our breath ? 

How calm ! how gently sweet ! 

The sleeping corse appears ! 
Now sympathetic mourners meet, 

To dry each others" tears. 

Not one will e'er repine, 

Nor without measure mourn ; 
Since all the virtues live and shine, 

Though friends can ne'er return. 

Then let us try to gain 

The boon which virtue gives ; 
And leave behind a noble name, 

A name that ever lives. 

With such a claim as this, 

No mortal need to fear ; 
It fills the mind with social bliss, 

And everv heart doth cheer. 



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